An update of clinical characteristics and imaging findings of pulmonary aspergillosis

Abstract

Pulmonary aspergillosis (PA) is a clinical spectrum of rapidly progressive potentially fatal opportunistic mycosis usually caused by Aspergillus organisms. In the recent years, the number of patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) has increased and it remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Chest CT plays an important role in the early diagnosis of IPA and should be included in the investigative protocol. Typical imaging findings of IPA include nodule, consolidation, the halo sign, the hypodense sign and the air crescent sign. CT Angiography (CTA) has a higher sensitivity for detecting angioinvasive aspergillosis. However, the diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis remains challenging radiologically in immunocompetent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and critically ill patients in intensive care unit (ICU) because of the non-specific CT findings and further studies are needed to establish the confirm diagnosis.