Practicability of the (1, 3)-β-D glucan in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in diagnosis of invasive pulmonary fungal infection

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Objective To investigate the clinical practicability of the (1, 3)-β-D glucan in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in diagnosis of invasive pulmonary fungal infection(IPFI). Methods A total of 134 patients with lung disease were selected, of which 32 cases were confirmed or clinically diagnosed with pulmonary fungal infection, 48 patients were suspected cases, 54 cases were non IPFI. All patients were given normal bronchoalveolar lavage clysis, the contents of the (1, 3)-β-D glucan and galactomannan of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum were detected, the clinical practicability of the two methods for detection in diagnosis of invasive pulmonary fungal infection were compared. Results Thirty-two patients suffered invasive fungal infection, of which 10 cases of the patients were diagnosed with pneumocystis carinii pneumpnia with G test of the bronchoalveolar lavage positive, the sensitivity was 100%, while bronchoalveolar lavage G test and GM test which were used for the diagnosis of invasive fungal infection had similar sensitivity, but specificity of broncho-alveolar lavage G test was lower. The specificity of dextran in serum was higher. Conclusions The (1, 3)-β-D glucan test in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid shows a low specificity, so identifying the special factors which will interfere the experimental performance may improve the clinical practicability of the (1, 3)-β-D glucan in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in fungal glucan monitoring. Key words: Invasive fungal infection; Aspergillus; Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid