Pulmonary fungal disease

Pulmonary fungal disease encompasses a broad spectrum of infections related to fungal sources. They can particularly affect immunocompromised individuals.

These include:

• pulmonary aspergillosis: pulmonary aspergillus infection considered the most important in immunocompromised individuals ⁵

  • aspergilloma (saprophytic/non-invasive aspergillosis): the most common form seen radiographically

  • allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA)

  • invasive aspergillosis

    • chronic necrotizing aspergillosis (CNA) (or semi-invasive aspergillosis)

    • airway invasive aspergillosis (or bronchopneumonic aspergillosis)

    • angioinvasive aspergillosis

  • obstructive bronchopulmonary aspergillosis

• pulmonary candidiasis

• pulmonary histoplasmosis

• pulmonary blastomycosis

• pulmonary cryptococcosis

• pulmonary mucormycosis

• pulmonary scedoporium infection

• pulmonary Pneumocystis jirovecii infection (now considered a form of fungus)

• pulmonary cladophialophora infection

Serological markers

• (1,3)-β-D-glucan serum concentrations: may have a role in detecting some situations with disseminated infection ⁹