Clinical characteristics of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in non-neutropenic patients / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

Objective In recent years, the incidence of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in non-neutropenic patients has been increasing. Most previous studies have focused on the diagnosis and treatment of IPA in severely immunocompromised patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of IPA in non-neutropenic patients. Methods We enrolled 183 IPA patients (including 46 proven IPA cases and 137probable IPA cases) admitted to our hospital from 2008 to 2018, after excluding possible IPA cases and neutropenic cases. The clinical and laboratory data were collected and analyzed. Results In this study, 164 (89.6%) patients had underlying diseases and risk factors, among which chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and prolonged steroid treatment were the most common. Cough (79.8%), dyspnea (71.0%), sputum (68.9%)and fever (61.2%) were the common symptoms. Chest CT findings were mainly consolidation (45.9%), nodule (32.8%), ground-glass opacity (29.0%) and cavity (26.8%). The halo sign (8.2%) and air crescent sign (7.1%) were relatively rare. The mean numbers of leucocyte and neutrophils were 14.6×109/L and 10.2×109/L, respectively. Positive rates of sputum culture and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid culture were 32.5% and 35.1%, respectively. Positive rates of galactomannan (GM) antigen test in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples were 55.2% and 77.1%, respectively. Transthoracic needle biopsy and transbronchial lung biopsy were associated with positive rates of 45.3% and 20.6%, respectively. Conclusion The clinical and imaging features of IPA in non-neutropenic patients are atypical. Compared with sputum culture and GM antigen test in serum, alveolar lavage fluid GM test has higher sensitivity which can assist in definitive diagnosis.