Abstract:
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is an infectious disease caused by aspergillus species which can invade the tracheal bronchus and lung directly while hyphae grow. It is an acute, most often fatal, rapidly progressing infection. Prolonged neutropenia, hematological malignancy, transplantation (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and solid organ transplantation), prolonged corticosteroid therapy and immunosuppressant therapy, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and inherited immunodeficiency are risk factors for this disease. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are the keys to a better prognosis. However, because of the unspecific clinical manifestations, it is challenging to diagnose the disease early. Traditional methods such as histopathology and cytopathology examinations and isolated culture are of confirmed value, but with low sensitivity. In recent years, a number of non-culture laboratory diagnostic methods are being applied into practice, for example, galactomannan assay,polymerase chain reaction,andlateral-flow device, this review is about these novel diagnostic methods.