Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with acute respiratory syndrome by COVID-19

• Published in: Revista española de anestesiología y reanimación Vol. 69; no. 1; p. 48
• Main Authors: Sánchez Martín, C, Madrid Martínez, E, González Pellicer, R, Armero Ibáñez, R, Martínez González, E, Llau Pitarch, J V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Spain 01.01.2022
• Subjects: COVID-19; Aspergillus; COVID-19 Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis; SARS-CoV-2; Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis; Intensive care unit
• ISSN: 2340-3284
• DOI: 10.1016/j.redar.2021.02.012

Patients with COVID-19 who are admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) are at high risk of developing secondary infections, including invasive fungal infections such as invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). The main purpose was to analyse the putative COVID-19 Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CAPA) patients in our setting. In these patients, we performed mycological culture in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for isolation of sp. We followed the CU algorithm to diagnose putative IPA. Moreover, we considered relevant the positivity of galactomannan in BAL. We diagnosed putative IPA in 3 patients. The common features of these 3 patients were: more than 21 days of stay in ICU, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and treatment with steroids (1 mg/kg per day). Therefore, CAPA has to be systematically considered although a new algorithm to diagnose it is needed to treat patients in early stages in order to avoid catastrophic outcomes.