In this case report, we describe the utilisation of two recently developed technologies for the successful management of a persistent air leak (PAL) in a critically ill patient in whom cardiothoracic surgical intervention was not possible. We report the case of a young leukaemic woman with a PAL complicating Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (IPA), who was effectively managed using an Endobronch...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To assess the value of Aspergillus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test performed on the BAL in diagnosing invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). DESIGN Between January 1996 and 1997, we prospectively followed up 249 cancer patients with pulmonary infiltrates suggestive of pneumonia. Bronchoscopy with fungal stains, cultures, and PCR was performed on all patients. PCR was use...

Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) is the most common inherited blood disorder and is associated with severe morbidity and decreased survival. Allogeneic Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative approach. Nevertheless the decision to perform a bone marrow transplant includes the risk of major complications and transplant-related mortality. Infections represent the leading cau...

We developed a new quantitative system for diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) using real-time automated polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Intra-assay and interassay precision rates for in vitro examination were 2.53% and 2.20%, respectively, and the linearity of this assay was obtained when there were >20 copies/well. We examined 323 samples taken from 122 patients with hematolo...

BACKGROUND Patients with hematologic malignancies and a history of an invasive fungal infection are considered to be at high risk of suffering reactivation of the infection during subsequent intensive chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 1993 to September 1996, nine patients with a hematologic malignancy and previous invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) or Pseudallescheria boydii...

Introduction Invasive' pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) has been one of the major causes of mortality in immunocompromised patients. The gold standard method for a diagnosis of IPA is histopathological examination of the lung tissue; however, post-procedural bleeding limits the feasibility of lung biopsy. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Invasive Fungal Infections Coo...

We investigated the diagnostic utility of Aspergillus galactomannan (GM) in sputum for diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in haematologic patients and compared the results with those of bronchial lavage fluid (BLF) and serum. Patients were classified into 4 groups using modified European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria: group A, proven IPA; group B, p...

background and purpose: invasive aspergillosis (ia) is one of the most common life-threatening fungal infections among the critically ill patients including intensive care unit (icu) patients. delayed diagnosis and therapy may lead to poor outcomes. diagnosis may be facilitated by a test for molecular biomarkers, i.e. detection of galactomannan (gm) antigen based on enzyme immunoassay, which is...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary aspergillosis (PA) is one of the most serious complications in immunocompromised patients, in particular among hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) and patients with hematological malignancies. OBJECTIVES The current study aimed to evaluate the incidence of PA and utility of molecular methods in HSCT and patients with hematological malignancies, four methods includi...

Pulmonary aspergillosis is a well known entity occurring in immunocompetent persons. Cutaneous aspergillosis, on the other hand, has been described in cases of suppressed immunity. Recently, invasive aspergillosis has been reported in patients with subtle immune dysfunction such as those with critical illness and advanced cirrhosis. We report a case of scrotal aspergillosis in association with ...