Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: 20 cases / 中国感染与化疗杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the clinical, radiological, pathological and microbiological features of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) to improve clinical management.Methods Retrospective analysis of 20 pathologically and/or microbiologically confirmed IPA cases in our hospital from January 2005 to August 2008. Results Group A (with underlying diseases) included 13 patients (underlying malignancy in 9 patients, including 5 cases of hematological malignancy, COPD in 2 patients, pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchiectasis in 1 each). Group B (without underlying disease) included 7 patients (2 patients with a long time of fluffy toy contact, another 1 had exposure to moldy rice, and 3 had exposure to polluted water). All these 20 patients had pulmonary invasion revealed by CT imaging. Multiple changes were identified in 16 patients. Bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and/or consolidation were revealed in 7 patients. Multiple nodules were seen in 9 patients. Four patients had solitary lesions, including isolated nodules in 2 patients and segment consolidation in the other 2 patients. Pulmonary cavity without fluid level was found in 8 patients (40.0%). Eighteen cases received antifungal therapy. The overall efficacy rate was 55.6%. The efficacy rate in group A and B was 45.5% and 5/7 respectively. The average time to symptomatic relief was (12.0±2.8) days. The time to lung lesion improvement on CT was (17.4±2.9) days. The time to significant CT improvement was (34.3±9.9) days. The time to the resolution of active lesion was (56.4±6.2) days.Conclusions IPA may occur in immunocompetent patients without underlying disease. Most IPA patients have bilateral multiple pulmonary nodules and cavities on CT. The time to the resolution of active pulmonary lesions is about 6 weeks.