Exhalation Air Fungal Culture of Mechanically Ventilated Aspergillosis Suspected Patients in Concordance with Other Conventional Diagnostic Techniques

Aspergillosis remains one of the most challenging areas of illness. It has recently emerged as a world-wide health care problem, owing to extensive use of broad spectrum antibiotics, immunosuppressive agents and increasing population of terminally ill and debilitated patients. The ultimate aim of this investigation is to minimize morbidity and mortality of mechanically ventilated aspergillosis suspected patients, who have been notoriously difficult to be diagnosed and treated, by developing an accurate and easy diagnostic tool comparable to other conventional methods. Two hundred twenty seven suspected aspergillosis patients were screened for fungal infection using different conventional tools to evaluate different respiratory specimens sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, plural fluid, blood, biopsy and ELISA technique for galactomannan and (1-3)-β-D-glucan antigens in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage. Four Aspergillus species (A. niger, A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. terreus) were isolated and identified morphologically and genetically using the conventional diagnostic tools from suspected patients in all positive cultures. The results of the exhalation air of twenty three mechanically ventilated aspergillosis suspected patients came in accordance with those of the conventional methods used. Thus, exhalation air culture is an easily performed bedside tool for diagnosis of aspergillosis in ventilated patients.