Serum galactomannan index for early prediction of mortality in immunocompromised children with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis

BACKGROUND Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is the most common invasive fungal disease in immunocompromised patients, and it has a 30 % mortality rate despite appropriate antifungal therapy. This retrospective study was performed to determine risk factors for mortality in immunocompromised children with IPA. METHODS Medical records of 45 probable/proven IPA cases diagnosed in children with hematologic/oncologic diseases were reviewed. Selected cases were divided into the survival (n = 30) and fatality (n = 15) groups based on survival at 12 weeks after antifungal therapy. Clinical characteristics and serum galactomannan indices (GMIs) were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Significantly more children in the fatality group were male (p = 0.044), not in complete remission of the underlying malignancies (p = 0.016), and had received re-induction/salvage or palliative chemotherapy (p = 0.035) than those in the survival group. However, none of these factors was significantly associated with mortality in a multivariate analysis. Serum GMIs were higher in the fatality group than in the survival group during the entire period of antifungal therapy, and serum GMI at 1 week after antifungal therapy was most significantly associated with mortality. A serum GMI > 1.50 at 1 week after antifungal therapy exhibited a sensitivity and specificity of 61.5 % and 89.3 %, respectively, in predicting mortality within 12 weeks after antifungal therapy. CONCLUSIONS Higher serum GMI in the early phase of antifungal therapy was associated with mortality in immunocompromised children with IPA. These children should receive more intensive care for IPA than others.