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Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
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Both the frequency of invasive disease and the pace of its progression increase with greater degrees of immunocompromise. Invasive aspergillosis is arbitrarily classified as acute and subacute, with courses of ≤1 month and 1–3 months, respectively. More than 80% of cases of invasive aspergillosis involve the lungs. The most common clinical features are no symptoms at all, fever, cough (sometimes productive), nondescript chest discomfort, trivial hemoptysis, and shortness of breath. Although the fever often responds to glucocorticoids, the disease progresses. The keys to early diagnosis in at-risk patients are a high index of suspicion, screening for circulating antigen (in leukemia), and urgent CT of the thorax. Invasive aspergillosis is one of the most common diagnostic errors revealed at autopsy.
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The sinuses are involved in 5–10% of cases of invasive aspergillosis, especially affecting patients with leukemia and recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. In addition to fever, the most common features are nasal or facial discomfort, blocked nose, and nasal discharge (sometimes bloody). Endoscopic examination of the nose reveals pale, dusky or necrotic-looking tissue in any location. CT or MRI of the sinuses is essential but does not distinguish invasive Aspergillus sinusitis from preexisting allergic or bacterial sinusitis early in the disease process.
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Occasionally, only the airways are infected by Aspergillus. The resulting manifestations range from acute or chronic bronchitis to ulcerative or pseudomembranous tracheobronchitis. These entities are particularly common among lung transplant recipients. Obstruction with mucous plugs occurs in normal individuals; in persons with ABPA, cystic fibrosis, and/or bronchiectasis; and in immunocompromised patients.
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Disseminated aspergillosis
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In the most severely immunocompromised patients, Aspergillus disseminates from the lungs to multiple organs—most often to the brain but also to the skin, thyroid, bone, kidney, liver, gastrointestinal tract, eye (endophthalmitis), and heart valve. Aside from cutaneous lesions, the most common features are gradual clinical deterioration over 1–3 days, with low-grade fever and features of mild sepsis, and nonspecific abnormalities in laboratory tests. In most cases, at least one localization becomes apparent before death. Blood cultures are almost always negative.
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Cerebral aspergillosis
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Hematogenous dissemination to the brain is a devastating complication of invasive aspergillosis. Single or multiple lesions may develop. In acute disease, hemorrhagic infarction is most typical, and cerebral abscess is common. Rarer manifestations include meningitis, mycotic aneurysm, and cerebral granuloma (mimicking a brain tumor). Local spread from cranial sinuses also occurs. Postoperative infection develops rarely and is exacerbated by glucocorticoids, often given after neurosurgery. The presentation can be either acute or subacute, with mood changes, focal signs, seizures, and decline in mental status. MRI is the most useful immediate investigation; unenhanced CT of the brain is usually nonspecific, and contrast is often contraindicated because of poor renal function.
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Most cases of Aspergillus endocarditis are prosthetic valve infections resulting from contamination during surgery. Native valve disease is reported, especially as a feature of disseminated infection and in persons using illicit IV drugs. Culture-negative endocarditis with large vegetations is the most common presentation; embolectomy occasionally reveals the diagnosis.
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Cutaneous aspergillosis
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Dissemination of Aspergillus occasionally results in cutaneous features, usually an erythematous or purplish nontender area that progresses to a necrotic eschar. Direct invasion of the skin occurs in neutropenic patients at the site of IV catheter insertion and in burn patients; such invasion may also follow trauma. Wounds may become infected with Aspergillus (especially A. flavus) after surgery.
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Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis
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The hallmark of chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis (also called semi-invasive aspergillosis, chronic necrotizing aspergillosis, or complex aspergilloma) (Fig. 116-1) is one or more pulmonary cavities expanding over a period of months or years in association with pulmonary symptoms and systemic manifestations such as fatigue and weight loss. (Pulmonary aspergillosis developing over <3 months is better classified as subacute invasive aspergillosis.) Often mistaken initially for tuberculosis, almost all cases occur in patients with prior pulmonary disease (e.g., tuberculosis, atypical mycobacterial infection, sarcoidosis, rheumatoid lung disease, pneumothorax, bullae) or lung surgery. The onset is insidious, and systemic features may be more prominent than pulmonary symptoms. Cavities may have a fluid level or a well-formed fungal ball, but pericavitary infiltrates and multiple cavities—with or without pleural thickening—are typical. An irregular internal cavity surface and thickened cavity walls are indicative of disease activity. IgG antibodies (usually precipitating) to Aspergillus are almost always detectable in blood, and levels fall slowly with successful therapy. Some patients have concurrent infections—even without a fungal ball—with atypical mycobacteria and/or other bacterial pathogens. One or more Aspergillus nodules that resemble early lung carcinoma and may cavitate have been recognized. If untreated, chronic pulmonary aspergillosis typically progresses (sometimes relatively rapidly) to unilateral or upper-lobe fibrosis. This end-stage entity is termed chronic fibrosing pulmonary aspergillosis.
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Aspergilloma (fungal ball) occurs in up to 20% of residual pulmonary cavities ≥2.5 cm in diameter. Signs and symptoms associated with single (simple) aspergillomas are minor, including cough (sometimes productive), hemoptysis, wheezing, and mild fatigue. More significant signs and symptoms are associated with chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis and should be treated as such. The vast majority of fungal balls are caused by A. fumigatus, but A. niger has been implicated, particularly in diabetic patients; aspergillomas due to A. niger can lead to oxalosis with renal dysfunction. The most significant complication of aspergilloma is life-threatening hemoptysis, which may be the presenting manifestation. Some fungal balls resolve spontaneously, but the cavity may still be infected.
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Chronic Aspergillus sinusitis
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Three entities are subsumed under this broad designation: fungal ball of the sinus, chronic invasive sinusitis, and chronic granulomatous sinusitis. Fungal ball of the sinus is limited to the maxillary sinus (except in rare cases involving the sphenoid sinus) and consists of a chronic saprophytic entity in which the sinus cavity is filled with a fungal ball. Maxillary disease is associated with prior upper-jaw root canal work and chronic (bacterial) sinusitis. About 90% of CT scans show focal hyperattenuation related to concretions; on MRI scans, the T2-weighted signal is decreased, whereas it is increased in bacterial sinusitis. Removal of the fungal ball is curative. No tissue invasion is demonstrable histologically or radiologically.
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In contrast, chronic invasive sinusitis is a slowly destructive process that most commonly affects the ethmoid and sphenoid sinuses but can involve any sinus. Patients are usually but not always immunocompromised to some degree (e.g., as a result of diabetes or HIV infection). Imaging of the cranial sinuses shows opacification of one or more sinuses, local bone destruction, and invasion of local structures. The differential diagnosis is wide, including infections caused by numerous other fungi; sphenoid sinusitis is often caused by bacteria. Apart from a history of chronic nasal discharge and blockage, loss of the sense of smell, and persistent headache, the usual presenting features are related to local involvement of critical structures. The orbital apex syndrome (blindness and proptosis) is characteristic. Facial swelling, cavernous sinus thrombosis, carotid artery occlusion, pituitary fossa, and brain and skull base invasion have been described.
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Chronic granulomatous sinusitis due to Aspergillus is most commonly seen in the Middle East and India and is often caused by A. flavus. It typically presents late, with facial swelling and unilateral proptosis. The prominent granulomatous reaction histologically distinguishes this disease from chronic invasive sinusitis, in which tissue necrosis with a low-grade mixed-cell infiltrate is typical. IgG antibodies to A. flavus are usually detectable.
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Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
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In almost all cases, ABPA represents a hypersensitivity reaction to A. fumigatus; rare cases are due to other aspergilli and other fungi. ABPA occurs in ~2.5% of patients with asthma who are referred to secondary care and in up to 15% of adults with cystic fibrosis. Episodes of bronchial obstruction with mucous plugs leading to coughing fits, “pneumonia,” consolidation, and breathlessness are typical. Many patients report coughing up thick sputum casts. Eosinophilia commonly develops before systemic glucocorticoids are given. The cardinal diagnostic tests include an elevated serum level of total IgE (usually >1000 IU/mL), a positive skin-prick test in response to A. fumigatus extract, or detection of Aspergillus-specific IgE and IgG antibodies. The presence of hyperattenuated mucus in airways is highly specific. Central bronchiectasis is characteristic, and some patients develop chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis.
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Severe asthma with fungal sensitization
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Many adults with severe asthma do not fulfill the criteria for ABPA and yet are allergic to fungi. Although A. fumigatus is a common allergen, numerous other fungi (e.g., Cladosporium and Alternaria species) are implicated by skin-prick testing and/or specific IgE radioallergosorbent testing. Serum total IgE concentrations are <1000 IU/mL, and bronchiectasis is moderately common.
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Like the lungs, the sinuses manifest allergic responses to Aspergillus and other fungi. The affected patients present with chronic (i.e., perennial) sinusitis that is relatively unresponsive to antibiotics. Many of these patients have nasal polyps, and all have congested nasal mucosae and sinuses full of mucoid material. The histologic hallmarks of allergic fungal sinusitis are local eosinophilia and Charcot-Leyden crystals. Removal of abnormal mucus and polyps, with local and occasionally systemic administration of glucocorticoids, usually leads to resolution. Persistent or recurrent signs and symptoms may require more extensive surgery (ethmoidectomy) and possibly local antifungal therapy. Recurrence is common, often after another bacterial or viral infection.
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Superficial aspergillosis
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Aspergillus can cause keratitis and otitis externa. The former may be difficult to diagnose early enough to save the patient’s sight. Treatment requires local surgical debridement as well as intensive topical antifungal therapy. Otitis externa usually resolves with debridement and local application of antifungal agents.