In order to investigate the influence of different hyphal inoculum sizes on minimal inhibition concentrations (MICs) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) of amphotericin B (AMB), voriconazole and itraconazole, five isolates each of Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus were studied using a broth microdilution method. Three inoculum sizes were used: 1 x 10(3)-5 x 10(3), 1 x 10(4)-5 x 10(4) and 1 x 10(5)-5 x 10(5) cfu/ml. MICs and MFCs were read at 24 and 48 h at 35 degrees C. For all species tested, AMB MICs and MFCs were minimally affected by inoculum size on. However inoculum size significantly affected MICs and MFCs of voriconazole and itraconazole; there was an increase of up to 6-fold in MICs and MFCs for the various aspergilli when the inoculum increased from 10(3) to 10(5) cfu/ml (P<0.05). Thus azoles showed significant inoculum effects, while AMB showed comparatively minimum inoculum effects against Aspergillus spp.