Study of aspergillosis risk factors in high risk patients

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a major opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients. Aspergillus is the main cause of mortality due to infection after transplantation and remains a major complication in hematologic malignancies. Despite considerable progresses in infection management, aspergillosis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, mainly after transplantation. During an 11-year period (April 1996 to March 2006), a retrospective study was achieved on 24 patients with aspergillosis in order to identify significant risk factors for invasive aspergillosis. Diagnosis was confirmed by demonstration of fungi in direct preparation and culture techniques. Aspergillosis was more commonly isolated from respiratory tract (75%). Patients had at least one predisposing factor for aspergillosis. Among patients with solid organ transplantation, kidney transplant patients and chronic granulomatos disease were at the higher risk of developing invasive aspergillosis (IA). Major advances in management of invasive fungal infections (IFI) have resulted from our understanding of the risk factors for the development of IFI. However, much remains to be done to decrease mortality due to IFI in high risk patients. A high degree of awareness and efforts for an early diagnosis may improve poor prognosis. This study signifies that clinicians should be alerted of potential fungal etiology in cases of fever, which is unresponsive to conventional medical therapy.