Imaging Spectrum in Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Mandeep Garg Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India;

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Harsimran Bhatia Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India;

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Tany Chandra Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India;

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Uma Debi Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India;

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Inderpaul Singh Sehgal Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

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Nidhi Prabhakar Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India;

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Manavjit Singh Sandhu Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India;

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Ritesh Agarwal Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

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ABSTRACT.

Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is a life-threatening respiratory fungal infection that is almost exclusively seen in patients with preexisting structural lung disease with no or mild immunosuppression. The clinical presentation and imaging findings are varied and often pose a diagnostic challenge; and the disease is often present for a long time before being correctly diagnosed. High-resolution chest computed tomography is the imaging modality of choice because it helps identify various forms of CPA, which can range from a simple aspergilloma and chronic cavitary form, to the subacute invasive and end-stage fibrotic form. The knowledge of the imaging features of this disease cannot be overemphasized because it can assist the clinician in reaching at an early diagnosis and timely initiation of appropriate antifungal therapy, thereby improving patient management and treatment outcome. Moreover, imaging also plays a pivotal role during follow-up in patients of CPA to assess the treatment response. In the current review, we present an illustrative review of radiologic patterns seen in various forms of CPA.

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Author Notes

Address correspondence to Mandeep Garg, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India. E-mail: gargmandeep@hotmail.com

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors’ addresses: Mandeep Garg, Harsimran Bhatia, Uma Debi, Nidhi Prabhakar, and Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, E-mails: gargmandeep@hotmail.com, harsimranbhatia13@gmail.com, debi_uma@yahoo.co.in, nidhirajpalprabhakar@gmail.com, and manavjitsandhu@yahoo.com. Tany Chandra, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, E-mail: tanychandra2015@gmail.com. Inderpaul Singh Sehgal and Ritesh Agarwal, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, E-mails: inderpgi@outlook.com and agarwal.ritesh@outlook.in.

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