Abstract

In recent years, infections caused by Aspergillus sp. have become an emerging focus of clinical microbiology and infectious disease, as the number of patients infected with Aspergillus sp. has increased markedly. Although chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is considered a ‘semi-invasive’ or ‘intermediate’ disease, little data are available for the direct comparison of CPA with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and pulmonary aspergilloma (PA) to quantify invasiveness. In this study, we compared the characteristics of CPA with those of IPA and PA among hospitalized patients over a 10-year period. A total of 29, 51 and 31 cases of CPA, IPA and PA, respectively, were included. An increasing trend in galactomannan antigen seropositivity rate from PA (24.1%) to CPA (35.7%) to IPA (54.9%) and an opposite trend for anti-Aspergillus antibody (PA (71.0%) to CPA (45.8%) to IPA (7.1%)) were observed. Eight percent of CPA patients were infected with more than one Aspergillus sp. The survival rate of the CPA group also fell between the survival rate of PA and IPA, confirming the intermediate severity of CPA. The survival rate of the CPA group became significantly higher than that of the IPA group from day 180 onwards until 2 years after admission (P<0.05). The survival rate of the CPA group remained lower than that of the PA group from day 30 onwards until 2 years after admission. Poor prognostic factors for CPA included older age (P=0.019), higher total leukocyte count (P=0.011) and higher neutrophil count (P=0.012) on admission. This study provided clinical and laboratory evidence for the semi-invasive properties of CPA.

Emerging Microbes and Infections (2016) 5, e37; doi:10.1038/emi.2016.31; published online 20 April 2016

Details

Title
A 10-year study reveals clinical and laboratory evidence for the ‘semi-invasive’ properties of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis
Author
Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan 1 ; Lau, Susanna Kar-Pui 1 ; Wong, Sally Cheuk-Ying 2 ; Kelvin Kai-Wang To 1 ; So, Simon Yung-Chun 2 ; Leung, Sally Sau-Man 2 ; Siu-Mang Chan 2 ; Chiu-Mei, Pang 2 ; Xiao, Chenlu 2 ; Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung 3 ; Vincent Chi-Chung Cheng 2 ; Kwok-Yung, Yuen 1 ; Patrick Chiu-Yat Woo 1 

 State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Carol Yu Centre for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 
 Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 
 Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 
Pages
1-7
Publication year
2016
Publication date
Jan 2016
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
e-ISSN
22221751
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2865140856
Copyright
© 2016 The Author(s). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.