Hospital-acquired candida and aspergillus pneumonia—diagnostic approaches and clinical findings

Abstract

Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), collection of bronchial secretions (BS) and/or high resolution computed tomography (CT) of the lungs was performed in 70 patients with Candida and/or aspergillus pneumonia. The sensitivity of bronchoscopy in detecting histologically proven fungal disease was 59%. Characteristic CT signs were found in 11 of 14 patients with Candida pneumonia and 16 of 19 patients with aspergillosis. The more frequent use of bronchoscopy and CT scans between 1990 and 1992 compared with 1986–1989 for the differential diagnosis of new pulmonary infiltrates in immunocompromised patients resulted in earlier antifungal treatment (14 vs. nine days; P < 0·025). In the second treatment period survival was improved from 36 to 50% (not significant). Bronchoscopy and high resolution CT scans are mutually complementary diagnostic tools and should be performed as early as possible in the course of pneumonia in patients at high risk of fungal diseases.