The application of molecular technologies to aid diagnosis and management of infectious diseases has had a major impact and many assays are in routine use. Diagnosis of aspergillosis has lagged behind. Lack of standardization and limited commercial interest have meant that PCR was not included in consensus diagnostic criteria for invasive fungal disease. In the last ten years careful evaluation...

In invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, direct invasion and occlusion of pulmonary vasculature by Aspergillus hyphae causes tissue hypoxia, which is enhanced by secreted fungal metabolites that downregulate compensatory angiogenic signaling pathways. We assessed the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on survival rates, fungal burden, and ...

aspergillus terreus is emerging as an etiologic agent of invasive aspergillosis among patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, haematopoetic stem-cell transplantation, or solid organ transplantation worldwide. infections caused by aspergillus terreus has become important due to less susceptibility to antifungal drags, resistant to amphotericin b and therefore, poor clinical outcome and higher m...

intracranial aspergilloma is extremely rare. the diagnosis and treatment of invasive cns aspergillosis is very difficult. early diagnosis is important for a successful treatment. here, we report a case of intracranial aspergilloma in an 11-year-old boy in 2013. good outcome was achieved by treatment with a combination of neurosurgical resection and antifungal administration, which we suggest is...

Invasive mycoses pose a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Advances in antifungal agents and diagnostic methods offer the potential for improved outcomes in patients with these infections, which are often lethal. Many fungal pathogens occur almost exclusively in opportunistic settings--in the immunocompromised host--and these infections are the focus of this review. Several areas of on...

Opportunistic fungal infections are increasingly common in patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Voriconazole is frequently used in allogeneic SCT recipients who receive immunosuppressant therapy for graft versus host disease to prevent invasive aspergillosis. Indications for voriconazole use include invasive aspergillosis, candidemia, Scedosporium apiospermum infectio...

Patients with hematologic malignancies as well as allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients are at high risk for invasive aspergillosis. Here, we report a culture- and autopsy-proven fatal invasive aspergillosis in an allogeneic HSTC patient which he developed despite posaconazole prophylaxis. The agent was determined to be an azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus strai...

Aspergillus is a saprophytic, spore-forming ubiquitous fungus. Aspergillus exists in soil, water and decaying vegetation. Inhalation of the airborne conidia causes a multitude of diseases, ranging from asymptomatic colonization to disseminated infection [1]. Invasive Aspergillosis is an opportunistic infection that mostly affects immunocompromised patients. Invasive Aspergillosis can occur virt...

Invasive aspergillosis is a disease of the immunosuppressed patient. We describe two patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who attained complete remission, with partial or complete bone marrow recovery, but who went on to develop fatal invasive aspergillosis contemporaneous with recovery of neutrophil counts. Quantitative recovery of peripheral blood neutrophil counts does not guarantee c...