Abstract
Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is a relatively uncommon disease that has been poorly characterized. This study investigated the clinical features and treatment outcomes of CPA through a retrospective review of records of patients with newly diagnosed CPA between January 2008 and January 2012. A total of 70 CPA patients, which included 51 (73%) males, had a median age of 55 years. Fifty-seven patients (81%) had a history of pulmonary tuberculosis and pulmonary disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) was a primary underlying condition in 32 patients (46%). Most patients (n = 66; 99%) were treated with oral itraconazole, for a median of 6.4 months. Treatment response of 73% of patients was based on alleviation of symptoms and in 44% on computed tomography. Laboratory tests improved for more than 60% of patients and overall favorable responses were achieved in 44 patients (62%). Five of the latter (11%) had to restart antifungal therapy after a median of 9.2 months after therapy. Death occurred in 10 patients (14%). This study suggested that NTM lung disease was an important risk factor for CPA development. While treatment with oral itraconazole for approximately 6 months was moderately effective in treating CPA, a more effective treatment is required.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.
This work was supported by the Samsung Biomedical Research Institute grant, #SBRI C-B1-101.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 8 July 2013.