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Patients with single aspergillomas generally do well with surgery to remove the aspergilloma, and are best given pre-and post-operative antifungal drugs. Often, no treatment is necessary. However, if a patient coughs up blood (haemoptysis), treatment may be required (usually angiography and embolisation, surgery or taking tranexamic acid). Angiography (injection of dye into the blood vessels) may be used to find the site of bleeding which may be stopped by shooting tiny pellets into the bleeding vessel.
For chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis and chronic fibrosing pulmonary aspergillosis, lifelong use of antifungal drugs is usual. Itraconazole and voriconazole are first and second-line anti fungal agents respectively. Posaconazole can be used as third-line agent, for patients who are intolerant of or developed resistance to the first and second-line agents. Regular chest X-rays, serological and mycological parameters as well as quality of life questionnaires are used to monitor treatment progress. It is important to monitor the blood levels of antifungals to ensure optimal dosing as individuals vary in their absorption levels of these drugs.
The current medical treatments for aggressive invasive aspergillosis include voriconazole and liposomal amphotericin B in combination with surgical debridement.
For the less aggressive allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis findings suggest the use of oral steroids for a prolonged period of time, preferably for 6–9 months in allergic aspergillosis of the lungs. Itraconazole is given with the steroids, as it is considered to have a "steroid sparing" effect, causing the steroids to be more effective, allowing a lower dose.,
Other drugs used, such as amphotericin B, caspofungin (in combination therapy only), flucytosine (in combination therapy only), or itraconazole,
are used to treat this fungal infection. However, a growing proportion of infections are resistant to the triazoles. "A. fumigatus", the most commonly infecting species, is intrinsically resistant to fluconazole.
Prevention of aspergillosis involves a reduction of mold exposure via environmental infection-control. Anti-fungal prophylaxis can be given to high-risk patients. Posaconazole is often given as prophylaxis in severely immunocompromised patients.
Treatment depends on the underlying cause. Treatments include iced saline, and topical vasoconstrictors such as adrenalin or vasopressin. Selective bronchial intubation can be used to collapse the lung that is bleeding. Also, endobronchial tamponade can be used. Laser photocoagulation can be used to stop bleeding during bronchoscopy. Angiography of bronchial arteries can be performed to locate the bleeding, and it can often be embolized. Surgical option is usually the last resort, and can involve, removal of a lung lobe or removal of the entire lung. Non–small-cell lung cancer can also be treated with erlotinib or gefitinib. Cough suppressants can increase the risk of choking.
Underlying disease must be controlled to prevent exacerbation and worsening of ABPA, and in most patients this consists of managing their asthma or CF. Any other co-morbidities, such as sinusitis or rhinitis, should also be addressed.
Hypersensitivity mechanisms, as described above, contribute to progression of the disease over time and, when left untreated, result in extensive fibrosis of lung tissue. In order to reduce this, corticosteroid therapy is the mainstay of treatment (for example with prednisone); however, studies involving corticosteroids in ABPA are limited by small cohorts and are often not double-blinded. Despite this, there is evidence that acute-onset ABPA is improved by corticosteroid treatment as it reduces episodes of consolidation. There are challenges involved in long-term therapy with corticosteroids—which can induce severe immune dysfunction when used chronically, as well as metabolic disorders—and approaches have been developed to manage ABPA alongside potential adverse effects from corticosteroids.
The most commonly described technique, known as sparing, involves using an antifungal agent to clear spores from airways adjacent to corticosteroid therapy. The antifungal aspect aims to reduce fungal causes of bronchial inflammation, whilst also minimising the dose of corticosteroid required to reduce the immune system’s input to disease progression. The strongest evidence (double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trials) is for itraconazole twice daily for four months, which resulted in significant clinical improvement compared to placebo, and was mirrored in CF patients. Using itraconazole appears to outweigh the risk from long-term and high-dose prednisone. Newer triazole drugs—such as posaconazole or voriconazole—have not yet been studied in-depth through clinical trials in this context.
Whilst the benefits of using corticosteroids in the short term are notable, and improve quality of life scores, there are cases of ABPA converting to invasive aspergillosis whilst undergoing corticosteroid treatment. Furthermore, in concurrent use with itraconazole, there is potential for drug interaction and the induction of Cushing syndrome in rare instances. Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis, can also be induced.
In order to mitigate these risks, corticosteroid doses are decreased biweekly assuming no further progression of disease after each reduction. When no exacerbations from the disease are seen within three months after discontinuing corticosteroids, the patient is considered to be in complete remission. The exception to this rule is patients who are diagnosed with advanced ABPA; in this case removing corticosteroids almost always results in exacerbation and these patients are continued on low-dose corticosteroids (preferably on an alternate-day schedule).
Serum IgE can be used to guide treatment, and levels are checked every 6–8 week after steroid treatment commences, followed by every 8 weeks for one year. This allows for determination of baseline IgE levels, though it’s important to note that most patients do not entirely reduce IgE levels to baseline. Chest X-ray or CT scans are performed after 1–2 months of treatment to ensure infiltrates are resolving.
Most cases of aspergilloma do not require treatment. Treatment of diseases which increase the risk of aspergilloma, such as tuberculosis, may help to prevent their formation. In cases complicated by severe hemoptysis or other associated conditions such as pleural empyema or pneumothorax, surgery may be required to remove the aspergilloma and the surrounding lung tissue by doing a lobectomy or other types of resection and thus stop the bleeding. There has been interest in treatment with antifungal medications such as itraconazole, none has yet been shown to reliably eradicate aspergillomata.
Although most fungi — especially "Aspergillus" — fail to grow in healthy human tissue, significant growth may occur in people whose adaptive immune system is compromised, such as those with chronic granulomatous disease, who are undergoing chemotherapy, or who have recently undergone a bone marrow transplantation. Within the lungs of such individuals, the fungal hyphae spread out as a spherical growth. With the restoration of normal defense mechanisms, neutrophils and lymphocytes are attracted to the edge of the spherical fungal growth where they lyse, releasing tissue-digesting enzymes as a normal function. A sphere of the infected lung is thus cleaved from the adjacent lung. This sphere flops around in the resulting cavity and is recognized on x-ray as a fungus ball. This process is beneficial as a potentially serious invasive fungal infection is converted into surface colonization. Although the fungus is inactivated in the process, surgeons may choose to operate to reduce the possibility of bleeding. Microscopic examination of surgically removed recently formed fungus balls clearly shows a sphere of dead lung containing fungal hyphae. Microscopic examination of older lesions reveals mummified tissue which may reveal faint residual lung or hyphal structures.
The most common organ affected by aspergilloma is the lung. Aspergilloma mainly affects people with underlying cavitary lung disease such as tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis and systemic immunodeficiency. "Aspergillus fumigatus", the most common causative species, is typically inhaled as small (2 to 3 micron) spores. The fungus settles in a cavity and is able to grow free from interference because critical elements of the immune system are unable to penetrate into the cavity. As the fungus multiplies, it forms a ball, which incorporates dead tissue from the surrounding lung, mucus, and other debris.
Aspergillosis is an infection caused by the fungus "Aspergillus". Aspergillosis describes a large number of diseases involving both infection and growth of fungus as well as allergic responses. Aspergillosis can occur in a variety of organs, both in humans and animals.
The most common sites of infection are the respiratory apparatus (lungs, sinuses) and these infections can be:
- Invasive (e.g. – IPA)
- Non-invasive (e.g. Allergic Pulmonary Aspergillosis - ABPA)
- Chronic pulmonary and aspergilloma (e.g. chronic cavitary, semi-invasive)
- Severe asthma with fungal sensitisation (SAFS)
Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is a long-term aspergillus infection of the lung and "Aspergillus fumigatus" is almost always the species responsible for this illness. Patients fall into several groups as listed below.
- Those with an aspergilloma which is a ball of fungus found in a single lung cavity - which may improve or disappear, or change very little over a few years.
- Aspergillus nodule
- Chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis (CCPA) where cavities are present in the lungs, but not necessarily with a fungal ball (aspergilloma).
- Chronic fibrosing pulmonary aspergillosis this may develop where pulmonary aspergillosis remains untreated and chronic scarring of the lungs occurs. Unfortunately scarring of the lungs does not improve.
Most patients with CPA have or have had an underlying lung disease. The most common diseases include tuberculosis, atypical mycobacterium infection, stage III fibrocystic pulmonary sarcoidosis, ABPA, lung cancer, COPD and emphysema, asthma and silicosis.
Hemoptysis is the coughing up of blood or blood-stained mucus from the bronchi, larynx, trachea, or lungs. This can occur with lung cancer, infections such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, or pneumonia, and certain cardiovascular conditions. Hemoptysis is considered massive at . In such cases, there are always severe injuries. The primary danger comes from choking, rather than blood loss.
Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a condition characterised by an exaggerated response of the immune system (a hypersensitivity response) to the fungus "Aspergillus" (most commonly "Aspergillus fumigatus"). It occurs most often in patients with asthma or cystic fibrosis. "Aspergillus" spores are ubiquitous in soil and are commonly found in the sputum of healthy individuals. "A. fumigatus" is responsible for a spectrum of lung diseases known as aspergilloses.
ABPA causes airway inflammation, leading to bronchiectasis—a condition marked by abnormal dilation of the airways. Left untreated, the immune system and fungal spores can damage sensitive lung tissues and lead to scarring.
The exact criteria for the diagnosis of ABPA are not agreed upon. Chest X-rays and CT scans, raised blood levels of IgE and eosinophils, immunological tests for "Aspergillus" together with sputum staining and sputum cultures can be useful. Treatment consists of corticosteroids and antifungal medications.