Aspergilloma (patient information)

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Aspergilloma

Overview

What are the symptoms?

What are the causes?

Who is at highest risk?

Diagnosis

When to seek urgent medical care?

Treatment options

Where to find medical care for Aspergilloma?

Prevention

What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?

Possible complications

Aspergilloma On the Web

Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov

Images of Aspergilloma

Videos on Aspergilloma

FDA on Aspergilloma

CDC on Aspergilloma

Aspergilloma in the news

Blogs on Aspergilloma

Directions to Hospitals Treating Aspergilloma

Risk calculators and risk factors for Aspergilloma

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Charmaine Patel, M.D. [2]

Overview

Pulmonary aspergilloma is a mass caused by a fungal infection that usually grows in lung cavities. It can also appear in the brain, kidney, or other organs.

What are the symptoms of Aspergilloma?

Many patients have no symptoms. When symptoms do develop, they can include:

What causes Aspergilloma?

Aspergillomas are formed when the fungus aspergillus grows in a clump in a lung cavity, or invades previously healthy tissue, causing an abscess.

Aspergillus is a common fungus. It grows on dead leaves, stored grain, bird droppings, compost piles, and other decaying vegetation. Cavities in the lung may have been caused by:

Who is at highest risk?

Diagnosis

  • Blood test for presence of aspergillus in the body (galactomannan)
  • Blood test to detect antibodies to aspergillus (serum precipitins for aspergillus)
  • Bronchoscopy or bronchoscopy with lavage
  • Chest CT
  • Chest x-ray
  • Sputum culture

When to seek urgent medical care?

See your health care provider if you cough up blood, and mention any other symptoms that have developed.

Treatment options

Many patients never develop symptoms. Often, no treatment is needed, unless you are coughing up blood.

Occasionally, antifungal medications may be used.

Sometimes, injecting dye into the blood vessels (angiography) may be used to find the site of bleeding. The bleeding is stopped by shooting tiny pellets into the bleeding vessel.

Surgery is often the only choice if there is life-threatening bleeding.

Where to find medical care for Aspergilloma?

Directions to Hospitals Treating Condition

Prevention

People who have had related lung infections or who have weakened immune systems should try to avoid environments where the aspergillus fungus is found.

What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?

The outcome can be good in many patients. However, it depends on the severity of the condition and your overall health.

Surgery may be very successful in some cases, but it is complex and can have a high risk of serious complications.

Possible complications

  • Difficulty breathing that gets worse
  • Massive bleeding from the lung
  • Spread of the infection (see acute invasive aspergillosis)

Sources