European confederation of medical mycology expert consult-An ECMM excellence center initiative

Objectives Difficult-to-treat invasive fungal infections require infectious diseases expert consultation to improve treatment outcome and increase survival rates. Methods The European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) intends to provide expert help free of charge by a newly founded ECMM Expert Consultation Service for medical centres around the globe seeking advice when there is no fungal infection consultant available. The expert consult will provide recommendations and broad expertise on difficult-to-treat invasive fungal infections (eg azole-resistant Aspergillus species, Candida auris, mucormycosis) to improve diagnostic and therapeutic management and outcome. Results The initiative plans global outreach through video conferencing between ECMM Excellence Centers and treating physicians. FungiScope(R) registries will be used to structure case information and to evaluate the impact of the collegial advice system at regular intervals. Advice will follow recent guidelines, and EQUAL Scores will be used to measure guideline adherence. Conclusions Infectious diseases expert consultation should be an integral component of care for patients with difficult-to-treat invasive fungal infections. The ECMM Expert Consult will attend to this matter on a global scale.