Prevalence and Factors Associated with Isolation of Aspergillus and Candida from Sputum in Patients with Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis

Background: Information on the role of fungi in non-cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis is lacking. Objectives: Our aim was to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with the isolation and persistence of fungi from sputum in these patients. Methods: We performed a multicenter observational study comprising adult patients with non-CF bronchiectasis. Persistence of Aspergillus spp. and Candida albicans was defined as the presence of ≥ 2 positive sputum cultures taken at least 6 months apart within a period of 5 years. Results: A total of 252 patients (62.7% women with a mean ± SD age of 55.3 ± 16.7 years) were included in the study. All patients had at least 1 sputum sample cultured for fungi, with a mean ± SD of 7 ± 6 cultures per patient. Eighteen (8.7%) and 71 (34.5%) patients had persistent positive cultures for Aspergillus spp. and C. albicans , respectively. Patients with persistence of Aspergillus spp. and C. albicans were older and had more daily purulent sputum. In addition, patients with persistent C. albicans had worse postbronchoReceived: April 14, 2014 Accepted after revision: February 26, 2015 Published online: April 23, 2015 Luis Máiz Carro, MD, PhD Pneumology Service, Cystic Fibrosis and Bronchiectasis Unit Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal Carretera de Colmenar Km 9,100, ES–28034 Madrid (Spain) E-Mail luis.maiz @ salud.madrid.org © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel 0025–7931/15/0895–0396$39.50/0