Bessie Yu

Aspergillosis complicating neoplastic disease

Abstract From 1964 to June 1971, 93 cases of aspergillosis were encountered at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The 29 cases diagnosed in 1969–1970 and the 15 cases diagnosed in the first half of 1971 represented, respectively, a doubling and a quadrupling since 1964–1965. The incidence of aspergillosis in patients with leukemia was seven times greater than in patients with Hodgkins disease or lymphoma (p 3 ). Pulmonary involvement was present in 90 of 93 cases, disseminated disease in 23. The commonest clinical pattern was unremitting fever and development of pulmonary infiltrates despite broad-spectrurh antibiotic therapy. In an increasing number of cases aspergillosis followed Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. When present, serum aspergillus precipitins correlated well with invasive disease, but a negative test result was far less reliable. In one case of acute myelogenous leukemia the patient recovered from pulmonary aspergillosis after surgical excision of the lesion and remission of her leukemia. The incidence of aspergillosis is increasing and should be considered in the setting of progressive pulmonary infiltrates in leukemic and other heavily immunosuppressed patients who respond poorly to antibacterial therapy. Earlier diagnosis may lead to more effective therapy.

Invasive aspergillosis. Progress in early diagnosis and treatment.

Ninety-one patients with documented invasive infections due to an Aspergillus species were identified at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from July 1, 1971, through December 31, 1976. Of the 29 patients in whom the diagnosis was made during life, 10 had successful treatment and survived the Aspergillus infection by two to 17 months. An immunodiffusion test was useful in the early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis, and in 11 patients in whom the diagnosis was supported by seroconversion and who underwent treatment, the survival rate was 64 percent. Cultures of respiratory secretions were not reliable because they often reflected only colonization. In one year, only 9 percent of he patients with Aspergillus species isolated from the sputum had an invasive infection. The lung was the commonest site of involvement, 91 percent of the patients having pulmonary lesions. The most frequently affected extrapulmonary organ was the brain (18.3 percent). Eight patients had nonpulmonary aspergillosis as the only manifestation of this infection. Most of the 91 patients had hematologic neoplasms as the underlying disease, and neutropenia and antibacterial therapy preceded the diagnosis of aspergillosis in the majority of cases.

Diffuse pulmonary infiltrates in immunosuppressed patients. Prospective study of 80 cases.

Over a two year period, we studied prospectively 80 cases of diffuse pneumonia at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 72 per cent of these, the patient had leukemia or lymphoma. Diagnostic procedures consisted of extensive serologic testing for antibody to known respiratory pathogens, including the agent of Legionnaires disease, and culturing of biopsy specimens for bacteria, viruses, mycoplasmas and fungi. Of 44 cases in which open lung biopsy was performed, a specific cause was found in 61.4 per cent: Pneumocystis carinii in 38.6 per cent, other infections in 9.1 per cent and tumor involvement in 13.7 per cent. There were nonspecific pulmonary changes in 38.6 per cent. Of the 56 cases in which biopsy, autopsy or both were performed, a specific diagnosis was made in 69.7 per cent: P. carinii infection in 37.5 per cent and other infections in 12.5 per cent. In cases in which neither biopsy nor autopsy was performed, a specific infection was diagnosed in 33 per cent; no specific diagnosis was made in the remainder. One patient in the entire group had a significant antibody titer for Legionnaires disease. Although diagnostic in some cases, extensive serologic testing proved relatively unfruitful. Pneumocystosis was the most frequent diagnosis in this study. The cause of some cases remained obscure, even after lung biopsy.

Outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection among hospital personnel.

An outbreak of illness due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae occurred among employees of a large hospital. The spectrum of disease ranged from severe upper respiratory infection to multilobed pneumonia. No unusual increase in the incidence of respiratory illness due to this organism was observed in the surrounding community during the period under investigation. It was not possible to identify any single area of the hospital frequented by enough of the involved personnel to explain the spread of the infection among the hospitals employees. This is the first outbreak of M pneumoniae disease to be reported among hospital personnel.