Allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis presenting as flitting opacities on chest radiograph

ABSTRACT

Allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis [ABPA] is hypersensitivity reaction to Aspergillus fumigatus in the bronchial tree of young asthmatic patients. A 28 years old female patient presented with one year history of fever with generalised body aches and pains and had already received treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. Her chest radiograph showed flitting opacities in both lung fields with a TLC of 13.2 x10[9]/L having 25% eosinophils and ESR of 87 mm at first hour. Her serum IgE were markedly raised and CT scan of the chest showed dilated large and medium sized bronchi forming mucocoeles, finger in glove appearance and nodular shadowing in the lung parenchyma. Sputum also showed fungal hyphae by direct microscopy. All the findings were consistent with the diagnosis of ABPA, which responded to oral Itraconazole and Prednisolone. ABPA is a potentially destructive lung disease requiring high index of suspicion for an early diagnosis to prevent irreversible lung damage