Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2005 Jan;43(1):299-305.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.43.1.299-305.2005.

Contribution of (1->3)-beta-D-glucan chromogenic assay to diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of invasive aspergillosis in neutropenic adult patients: a comparison with serial screening for circulating galactomannan

Carmen Pazos  1 , José Pontón, Amalia Del Palacio
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Contribution of (1->3)-beta-D-glucan chromogenic assay to diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of invasive aspergillosis in neutropenic adult patients: a comparison with serial screening for circulating galactomannan

Carmen Pazos et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2005 Jan.

Abstract

Two noninvasive diagnostic tests, (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan (BG) (Glucatell) and galactomannan (GM) (Platelia Aspergillus), were used retrospectively in a twice-weekly screening for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in 40 treatment episodes (one hospital visit per patient) in 40 neutropenic adult patients at high risk for IA. Five proven IA cases, three probable IA cases, and three possible IA cases were diagnosed. Diagnostic levels of both BG and GM were detected in 100% of patients with proven IA cases and in 66% of patients with probable IA cases. The kinetics of both markers in patients with IA were similar. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for GM and BG were identical, namely, 87.5, 89.6, 70, and 96.3%, respectively. False-positive reactions occurred at a rate of 10.3% in both tests, but the patients showing false-positive results were different in each test. Both tests anticipated the clinical diagnosis, computed tomography abnormalities, and the initiation of antifungal therapy in most patients, but BG tended to become positive earlier than GM. A combination of the two tests improved the specificity (to 100%) and positive predictive value (to 100%) of each individual test without affecting the sensitivity and negative predictive values. In conclusion, BG and GM detection are useful tests for the diagnosis of IA in high-risk hematological patients, but a combination of the two tests was very useful to identify false-positive reactions by each test.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Representative kinetics of BG (•) and GM (⧫) in different patients. (a) Proven IA in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia who responded to treatment with amphotericin B and caspofungin. (b) Proven IA in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who did not respond to treatment with amphotericin B. (c) False-positive BG results in a patient with multiple myeloma and no IA. (d) False-positive GM results in a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and no IA. (e) Negative BG and GM results in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia and no IA who was colonized by C. albicans and C. glabrata. (f) Negative BG and GM results in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and no IA who was colonized by C. albicans. Abbreviations: AmB, amphotericin B; Caspo, caspofungin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ascioglu, S., J. H. Rex, B. de Pauw, J. E. Bennett, J. Bille, F. Crokaert, D. W. Denning, J. P. Donnelly, J. E. Edwards, Z. Erjavec, D. Fiere, O. Lortholary, J. Maertens, J. F. Meis, T. F. Patterson, J. Ritter, D. Selleslag, P. M. Shah, D. A. Stevens, and T. J. Walsh. 2002. Defining opportunistic invasive fungal infections in immunocompromised patients with cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplants: an international consensus. Clin. Infect. Dis. 34:7-14. - PubMed
    1. Boutboul, F., C. Alberti, T, Leblanc, A. Sulahian, E. Gluckman, F. Derovin, and P. Ribaud. 2002. Invasive aspergillosis in allogenic stem cell transplant recipients: increasing antigenemia is associated with progressive disease. Clin. Infect. Dis. 43:939-943. - PubMed
    1. Bretagne, S., A. Marmorat-Khvong, M. Kventz, J. P. Latgé, E. Bart-Delabasse, and C. Cordonnier. 1997. Serum Aspergillus galactomannan antigen testing by sandwich ELISA: a practical use in neutropenic patients. J. Infect. Dis. 35:7-15. - PubMed
    1. Del Palacio, A., M. S. Cuétara, and J. Pontón. 2003. La aspergilosis invasora. Rev. Iberoam. Micol. 20:77-78. - PubMed
    1. Del Palacio, A., M. S. Cuétara, and J. Pontón. 2003. El diagnóstico de laboratorio de la aspergilosis invasora. Rev. Iberoam. Micol. 20:90-98. - PubMed

Publication types