Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in non-neutropenic patients: A clinical analysis of 29 cases

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in non-neutropenic patients. Methods Clinical and imaging characteristics about 29 patients with proven and probable IPA admitted to department of respiratory diseases from January 2011 to December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Patients were classified into proven IPA group (n=12) and probable IPA group (n=17). The most common underlying disease of patients with IPA was chronic respiratory disease (n=11), diabetes mellitus and no basic diseases, each occurred in 7 cases. The average time from onset to diagnosis was 16.5 days. Clinical symptoms were nonspecific in non-neutropenic patients with IPA. The most common chest CT scan findings of patients with IPA were infiltrates. Conclusion IPA should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis particularly in non-neutropenic patients with dyspnea, cough, sputum, PCT normal values and a new pulmonary in filtrate that are irresponsive to broad-spectrum antibiotics and steroids.