The strategy for the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis should depend on both the underlying condition and the leukocyte count of patients with hematologic malignancies

Blood. 2012 Feb 23;119(8):1831-7; quiz 1956. doi: 10.1182/blood-2011-04-351601. Epub 2011 Oct 18.

Abstract

The identification of the causative organism in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is recommended. We investigated whether a mycologic diagnostic strategy could be optimized based on patient characteristics. Fifty-five patients were enrolled in a prospective study. The presence of Aspergillus in respiratory samples occurred more frequently in non-acute leukemia (AL) patients than in AL patients (P = .0003), and in patients with leukocyte counts more than 100/mm(3) (P = .002). In a logistic regression model, these 2 factors appeared to be independent, with an adjusted odds ratio of 7.14 (95% confidence interval, 1.40-36.5) for non-AL patients and an adjusted odds ratio of 6.97 (95% confidence interval, 1.33-36.5) for patients with leukocyte counts more than 100/mm(3). A positive mycologic result was also more frequent among patients with lung CT scan signs of airway-invasive disease than among other patients (P = .043). Airway-invasive signs were more frequent among non-AL patients (P = .049), whereas angioinvasive disease was more frequent among both AL patients (P = .01) and patients with leukocyte counts less than 100/mm(3) (P = .001). A concomitant pulmonary infection was identified more frequently among non-AL patients (P = .005 vs allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant and P = .048 vs others). Our results suggest that different strategies for diagnosing IPA should be considered based on the underlying condition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aspergillus / isolation & purification*
  • Bronchoscopy
  • Child
  • Female
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / complications*
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / therapy
  • Humans
  • Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis / complications
  • Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis / diagnosis*
  • Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis / microbiology
  • Leukemia / complications
  • Leukemia / therapy
  • Leukocyte Count
  • Logistic Models
  • Lung / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung / microbiology
  • Lung / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prospective Studies
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Young Adult