PMID: 11920473Mar 29, 2002Paper

Polymerase chain reaction on blood for the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in cancer patients

Cancer
Issam RaadMaher Albitar

Abstract

The premortem diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is difficult to make and often missed. Several retrospective studies have suggested that Aspergillus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed on serum or whole blood is useful in diagnosing IPA. Two prospective studies confirmed this finding but included a small number of IPA cases. The current study was performed to determine the diagnostic role of Aspergillus PCR performed on whole blood specimens from 54 patients with cancer and pulmonary infiltrates for which bronchoscopy with fungal stains and cultures were performed. PCR through amplified Aspergillus mitochondrial DNA and alkaline protease genes was performed on whole blood samples. The cohort in the current study was comprised of 4 patients with definite IPA, 7 patients with probable IPA, 7 patients with possible IPA, and 36 control patients with no evidence of IPA. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values all were 100% for definite IPA cases and 57%, 100%, 100%, and 92%, respectively, for each of the probable and possible IPA cases. Aspergillus PCR on whole blood samples is highly sensitive for the detection of IPA and is predictive for IPA. The sensitivity appears to be ...Continue Reading

Citations

Jul 25, 2007·Intensive Care Medicine·R J TrofA B J Groeneveld
May 9, 2012·Folia Microbiologica·Lenka Bašková, Vladimír Buchta
May 22, 2003·Paediatric Respiratory Reviews·Mark Rosenthal
Aug 18, 2009·International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease·Florence AderSaad Nseir
Sep 25, 2015·Clinical Microbiology and Infection : the Official Publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases·J SpringerC Lass-Flörl
May 7, 2009·FEMS Microbiology Letters·P Lewis WhiteRosemary A Barnes

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Aspergillosis (ASM)

Aspergillosis is the name given to a wide variety of diseases caused by infection by fungi of the genus Aspergillus. Aspergillosis occurs in chronic or acute forms which are clinically very distinct. Most cases of acute aspergillosis occur in patients with severely compromised immune systems. Chronic colonization or infection can cause complications in people with underlying respiratory illnesses. Discover the latest research on aspergillosis here.

Aspergillosis

Aspergillosis is the name given to a wide variety of diseases caused by infection by fungi of the genus Aspergillus. Aspergillosis occurs in chronic or acute forms which are clinically very distinct. Most cases of acute aspergillosis occur in patients with severely compromised immune systems. Chronic colonization or infection can cause complications in people with underlying respiratory illnesses. Discover the latest research on aspergillosis here.