Objective: To prospectively evaluate the utility of detecting bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) Aspergillus galactomannan antigen (GM) in the diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis.
Methods: From August 2008 to April 2012, 121 patients suspected of pulmonary aspergillosis were recruited and classified into pulmonary aspergillosis group (n = 57) and non-pulmonary disease group (n = 64) according to the 2008 diagnostic criteria and classification of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/National Institute of Mycoses Study Group(EORTC/MSG). The absorbency (A) and I value of GM in the patients' serum and BALF were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). And their values were compared and analyzed.
Results: Twenty cases were confirmed by pathological examinations and 37 cases by clinical diagnosis in the pulmonary aspergillosis group. The mean rank of GM's I value in the serum and BALF samples was 88.21 and 86.49. And they significantly increased compared with the non-pulmonary aspergillosis group (36.77, 38.30) (P < 0.01). At a different serum GM threshold I = 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, the sensitivities were 0.842, 0.649 and 0.228; the specificities 0.906, 0.938, 0.929; the positive predictive values 0.889, 0.902, 0.984 and the negative predictive values 0.866, 0.750, 0.589 respectively. And at a different BALF GM threshold I = 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, the sensitivities were 0.930, 0.657, 0.561; the specificities 0.766, 0.922, 0.969; the positive predictive values 0.779, 0.884, 0.941 and the negative predictive values 0.925, 0.756, 0.713 respectively.
Conclusion: The detection of GM in BALF may be employed for the clinical diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis.