COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is now been recognized as a possible secondary infection affecting COVID-19 recovery and increasing mortality. It can be explained due to factors such as direct epithelial injury, hypercoagulable and hyperinflammatory states, and the use of immunosuppressive tr...

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Main Authors: Priyanka Singh, Aanchal Kakkar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2023-07-01
Series:Journal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_32_23
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author Priyanka Singh
Aanchal Kakkar
author_facet Priyanka Singh
Aanchal Kakkar
author_sort Priyanka Singh
collection DOAJ
description Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is now been recognized as a possible secondary infection affecting COVID-19 recovery and increasing mortality. It can be explained due to factors such as direct epithelial injury, hypercoagulable and hyperinflammatory states, and the use of immunosuppressive treatment. We managed five such cases in a post-COVID intensive care unit facility at a tertiary care institute in North India. All patients had high oxygen demand, positive serum galactomannan (GM) index, and significant chest X-ray changes. All patients showed an initial improvement after receiving intravenous antifungal treatment with voriconazole. Systemic markers were suboptimal for the diagnosis of COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) with a sensitivity of less than 50%. GM assay has been validated in BAL and serum in numerous studies. Serum GM is a sensitive marker for IPA in patients with neutropenia; however, in nonneutropenic critically ill patients, serum GM exhibited a sensitivity of 25%, although a negative serum result cannot exclude the diagnosis of CAPA. The diagnosis of CAPA is challenging, and in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia may be associated with a worse prognosis. GM levels can be used for the diagnostic purpose of probable CAPA cases and administration of prophylactic treatment with voriconazole is still under debate.
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spelling doaj-art-1b3bc0653d344aa0b9722ffc0d507de62025-08-20T03:16:21ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine2542-62732455-30692023-07-019217317610.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_32_23COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequelPriyanka SinghAanchal KakkarInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is now been recognized as a possible secondary infection affecting COVID-19 recovery and increasing mortality. It can be explained due to factors such as direct epithelial injury, hypercoagulable and hyperinflammatory states, and the use of immunosuppressive treatment. We managed five such cases in a post-COVID intensive care unit facility at a tertiary care institute in North India. All patients had high oxygen demand, positive serum galactomannan (GM) index, and significant chest X-ray changes. All patients showed an initial improvement after receiving intravenous antifungal treatment with voriconazole. Systemic markers were suboptimal for the diagnosis of COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) with a sensitivity of less than 50%. GM assay has been validated in BAL and serum in numerous studies. Serum GM is a sensitive marker for IPA in patients with neutropenia; however, in nonneutropenic critically ill patients, serum GM exhibited a sensitivity of 25%, although a negative serum result cannot exclude the diagnosis of CAPA. The diagnosis of CAPA is challenging, and in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia may be associated with a worse prognosis. GM levels can be used for the diagnostic purpose of probable CAPA cases and administration of prophylactic treatment with voriconazole is still under debate.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_32_23covid-19 retropneumoniapulmonary aspergillosisvoriconazole
spellingShingle Priyanka Singh
Aanchal Kakkar
COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel
Journal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine
covid-19 retro
pneumonia
pulmonary aspergillosis
voriconazole
title COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel
title_full COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel
title_fullStr COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel
title_short COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: A lesson learned from COVID sequel
title_sort covid 19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis a lesson learned from covid sequel
topic covid-19 retro
pneumonia
pulmonary aspergillosis
voriconazole
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_32_23
work_keys_str_mv AT priyankasingh covid19associatedpulmonaryaspergillosisalessonlearnedfromcovidsequel
AT aanchalkakkar covid19associatedpulmonaryaspergillosisalessonlearnedfromcovidsequel