Pulmonary Aspergillosis (pulmonary + aspergillosis)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Pulmonary Aspergillosis

  • invasive pulmonary aspergillosis


  • Selected Abstracts


    Successful Treatment of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in a Neonatal Foal

    JOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2009
    H. Hilton
    First page of article [source]


    Multicenter, noncomparative study of caspofungin in combination with other antifungals as salvage therapy in adults with invasive aspergillosis

    CANCER, Issue 12 2006
    Johan Maertens MD
    Abstract BACKGROUND. Caspofungin inhibits synthesis of ,-1,3-glucan, an essential component of the Aspergillus cell wall. This echinocandin has demonstrated efficacy (45% success) as salvage monotherapy of invasive aspergillosis (IA). Interest remains as to whether caspofungin, in combination with other antifungal classes, can improve the efficacy against IA. METHODS. The study involved 53 adults with documented IA who were refractory to or intolerant of standard antifungal therapy and received caspofungin and 1 other mold-active antifungal agent (at the investigator's discretion). Efficacy was assessed by signs, symptoms, and radiographs at the end of combination therapy and Day 84 after combination therapy initiation. Favorable (complete or partial) responses required significant clinical and radiographic improvement. Diagnoses and outcomes were assessed by an independent expert. RESULTS. Among the 53 patients enrolled the most common underlying diseases were acute leukemia (53%), lymphoma (11%), and chronic leukemia (6%). Pulmonary aspergillosis (81%) was the most common site, and most patients (87%) were refractory to prior therapy. Success at the end of combination therapy and Day 84 was 55% (29/53) and 49% (25/51), respectively. Fifty-seven percent of patients with neutropenia and 54% who received an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant responded favorably. Survival at Day 84 was 55%. Combination therapy, dosed on average for 31.3 days, was well tolerated. Two (4%) serious drug-related adverse events, both attributed to voriconazole, occurred. None of the patients discontinued caspofungin due to toxicity. CONCLUSIONS. Caspofungin in combination with a triazole or polyene was an effective alternative as salvage therapy for patients with recalcitrant Aspergillus infections. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society. [source]


    Aspergillus Colonization of the Lung Allograft Is a Risk Factor for Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 8 2009
    S. S. Weigt
    Multiple infections have been linked with the development of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) post-lung transplantation. Lung allograft airway colonization by Aspergillus species is common among lung transplant recipients. We hypothesized that Aspergillus colonization may promote the development of BOS and may decrease survival post-lung transplantation. We reviewed all lung transplant recipients transplanted in our center between January 2000 and June 2006. Bronchoscopy was performed according to a surveillance protocol and when clinically indicated. Aspergillus colonization was defined as a positive culture from bronchoalveolar lavage or two sputum cultures positive for the same Aspergillus species, in the absence of invasive pulmonary Aspergillosis. We found that Aspergillus colonization was strongly associated with BOS and BOS related mortality in Cox regression analyses. Aspergillus colonization typically preceded the development of BOS by a median of 261 days (95% CI 87,520). Furthermore, in a multivariate Cox regression model, Aspergillus colonization was a distinct risk factor for BOS, independent of acute rejection. These data suggest a potential causative role for Aspergillus colonization in the development of BOS post-lung transplantation and raise the possibility that strategies aimed to prevent Aspergillus colonization may help delay or reduce the incidence of BOS. [source]


    Isolated invasive Aspergillus tracheobronchitis: a clinical study of 19 cases

    CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 6 2010
    N. Wu
    Clin Microbiol Infect 2010; 16: 689,695 Abstract Isolated invasive Aspergillus tracheobronchitis (iIATB) is an uncommon clinical form of invasive Aspergillosis in which Aspergillus infection is limited entirely or predominantly to the tracheobronchial tree. In the present study, we retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 19 patients who had histological documented iIATB in the Department of Respiratory Medicine of Changhai Hospital between October 2000 and February 2008. Malignancy was the most common underlying disease, which existed in 14 patients (73.7%) in our series. Most patients had impaired airway structures or defence functions, whereas the systemic immune status was relatively normal. Only three patients (15.8%) had neutropenia. The clinical manifestations and chest radiograph were nonspecific. We classified iIATB into four different forms according to the bronchoscopic features of intraluminal lesions: superficial infiltration type (Type I, n = 4), full-layer involvement type (Type II, n = 2), occlusion type (Type III, n = 6) and mixed type (Type IV, n = 7). Type IV was the largest group in our study, followed by Type III. All patients with iIATB of Type IV had definite airway occlusion. Fourteen patients (73.7%) had a good response to antifungal treatments and five (26.3%) died as a result of the progression of Aspergillosis, all of whom had full-layer invasion of the involved bronchi. In conclusion, we found that iIATB could occur in moderately or non-immunocompromised patients with impaired airway structures or defence functions and may be an early period of invasive pulmonary Aspergillosis. Most of the iIATB patients had a favourable prognosis with early diagnosis and effective antifungal treatment. The morphological features of intraluminal lesions might be of prognostic value. [source]


    Cytokine profiling of pulmonary aspergillosis

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 4 2006
    H. Sambatakou
    Summary Aspergillus fumigatus is ubiquitous and yet causes invasive, chronic and allergic disease of the lung. Chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis (CCPA) is a slowly destructive form of pulmonary aspergillosis, without immunocompromise. We hypothesized that CCPA cytokine gene polymorphisms would differ from patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and uninfected controls. We have profiled functional cytokine gene polymorphisms for interleukin (IL)-10, IL-15, transforming growth factors (TGF)-,1, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-, and interferon (IFN)-, in patients with CCPA (n = 24) who were compared with other forms of aspergillosis (mostly ABPA) (n = 15) and with ethnically matched controls (n = 65,330). Results are described with reference to the high-producing genotype in each case. Susceptibility to aspergillosis (all patients compared with normal controls) was associated with higher frequency of the IL-15 +13689*A allele (OR = 2.37, P = 0.0028) and A/A genotype (,2 = 10.31, P < 0.001), with a lower frequency of the TNF-,,308*A/A genotype (,2 = 11.05, P < 0.01). Within the aspergillosis patients, CCPA is associated with lower frequency of the IL-10 ,1082*G allele (OR = 0.38, P = 0.0006) and G/G genotype (,2 = 22.45, P < 0.001) and with a lower frequency of the TGF-,1 +869 *T allele (OR +0.42, P < 0.0029) and T/T genotype (,2 = 17.82, P < 0.001) compared with non-CCPA patients and normal controls. Patients infected with Aspergillus appear to be higher producers of IL-15, a Th2-promoting cytokine, and lower producers of TNF-,, a cytokine central in protective responses. CCPA occurs in patients who are genetically lower producers of both IL-10 and TGF-,1. As these cytokines are regulatory and anti-inflammatory, CCPA may be a consequence of poor inflammatory response control in the lung. [source]


    Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis in a patient treated with a tumor necrosis factor-, inhibitor

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RHEUMATIC DISEASES, Issue 3 2010
    Eun Jung LEE
    Abstract Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-, is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of a variety of autoimmune diseases. TNF-, inhibitors have been shown to offer clinical benefits in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and Crohn's disease. Occasionally, these agents have been associated with infectious complications because of their immunosuppressive activity. Globally, several cases of infections associated with TNF-, inhibitors have been reported. However, Aspergillus infection associated with etanercept is very rare. We report a case of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis in a 51-year-old man with AS that developed after treatment with etanercept. [source]


    Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis resulting in respiratory failure during neutrophil recovery from postchemotherapy neutropenia in three patients with acute leukaemia

    JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2002
    T. Takuma
    Abstract.,Takuma T, Okada K, Uchida Y, Yamagata A, Sawae Y (Kyushu University Graduate School of Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan; University of California, CA, USA; and Shin-kokura Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan). Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis resulting in respiratory failure during neutrophil recovery from postchemotherapy neutropenia in three patients with acute leukaemia (Case Report). J Intern Med 2002; 252: 173,177. Respiratory failure is a severe complication of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Its pathogenesis is not well understood. We herein describe three cases of subacute respiratory failure that occurred during the recovery phase of neutropenia following induction chemotherapy for acute leukaemia with IPA. In each case, severe neutropenia (19,85 days), high-grade fever, severe anaemia, the use of granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor and increasing infusion volume were noted. As the neutrophil count was recovering, the shadows on the chest X-ray expanded with progressing hypoxia. We should pay attention to the respiratory failure during the recovery phase of neutropenia in patients with IPA. [source]


    Zygomycosis , a case report and overview of the disease in India

    MYCOSES, Issue 4 2007
    Amit Diwakar
    Summary A case of zygomycosis caused by Rhizopus oryzae in a diabetic patient previously misdiagnosed as invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and an overview of the disease in India are presented. The case was diagnosed by direct microscopy, histopathologic examination and culture. Following surgical resection of pulmonary cavity under cover of amphotericin B administration, the patient recovered completely. Of 461 cases reported to-date, approximately 70% had been diagnosed at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, in north India. This may be attributed to better awareness, expertise and infrastructural facilities for mycological diagnosis than to any particular regional preponderance of the disease. Rhino-orbito-cerebral manifestations were the most common feature of zygomycosis (269 cases), followed by cutaneous disease (66 cases), which is in conformity with the pattern prevalent worldwide. The etiologic agents encountered were Rhizopus oryzae, Apophysomyces elegans, Saksenaea vasiformis, Cunninghamella bertholletiae, Absidia corymbifera, Basidiobolus ranarum and Conidiobolus coronatus. In contrast to cases from the developed world where transplant recipients and patients with haematological malignancies seem to be most vulnerable to zygomycosis, the most common risk factor in India was uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. Amphotericin B was the mainstay of various treatment modalities employed. The relevance of a strong clinical suspicion and early diagnosis of zygomycosis for favourable prognosis can hardly be over-emphasised. [source]


    ,Fungal soup': Report of two cases of tumour-like blocked pulmonary cavities with liquid content infected with aspergilli, a rare form of pulmonary aspergillosis

    RESPIROLOGY, Issue 2 2008
    Chi Fong WONG
    Abstract: Two cases of a rare and uncommonly described form of Aspergillus lung disease were diagnosed from incidental CXR abnormalities. This strange presentation has been described in the literature as ,tumour-like blocked pulmonary cavities with liquid content infected by aspergilli'. The details of these two cases are reported together with a discussion of the diagnostic features of the disease and its position in the spectrum of pulmonary diseases caused by Aspergillus. [source]


    Disseminated Scopulariopsis brevicaulis infection in an allogeneic stem cell recipient: case report and review of the literature

    CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 5 2010
    A. Salmon
    Clin Microbiol Infect 2010; 16: 508,512 Abstract A fatal case of disseminated Scopulariopsis brevicaulis infection in an allogeneic stem cell transplant recipient is described. The patient was initially thought to have pulmonary aspergillosis, on the basis of clinical signs and antigenaemia, but Aspergillus was not isolated by culture. Scopulariopsis brevicaulis was subsequently isolated from skin and then from sputum and stool. Further investigation revealed that the infection had spread from a primary pulmonary site to the skin. A review of the literature underscores the difficulty of diagnosing infections caused by such emerging fungal pathogens and the poor outcome of immunocompromised patients with non- Aspergillus mould infections. [source]


    Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an emerging fungal pathogen

    CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 6 2005
    F. Ader
    Abstract Acute invasive pulmonary aspergillosis occurs predominantly in immunocompromised hosts, with increasing numbers of cases of invasive aspergillosis among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) being reported. Among 13 cases of invasive aspergillosis diagnosed in COPD patients admitted to the intensive care unit with acute respiratory distress, the only risk factor for invasive fungal infection was corticosteroid treatment. Invasive aspergillosis should be suspected in COPD patients receiving steroid treatment who have extensive pulmonary infiltrates. Survival depends on rapid diagnosis and early appropriate treatment. A decrease or interruption of steroid treatment should be considered as part of the overall therapeutic strategy. [source]