title: The value of the chest computed tomography halo sign in the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. An autopsy-based retrospective study of 48 patients.
abstract: To evaluate the diagnostic value of a halo on computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), we retrospectively reviewed chest CT scans and autopsy reports for patients who had been admitted to our hospitals for the treatment of hematological malignancy. Pulmonary complications were suspected in all patients and chest CT scans were taken within a month of death. We examined the association between autopsy and CT findings in 48 patients who were diagnosed as IPA (n = 17), candidosis (n = 4), zygomycosis (n = 2), infiltration of hematological malignancy (n = 12), bacterial pneumonia (n = 6), cytomegalovirus pneumonia (n = 2), pulmonary hemorrhage (n = 2), or pulmonary congestion (n = 1). Patients with IPA showed a variety of CT findings, including halo (n = 13), nodules (n = 14), granular shadows (n = 3), masses (n = 6), consolidations (n = 9), wedge-shaped consolidations (n = 1), and cavitation (n = 2). In contrast, 0, 11 and two of the 31 patients without IPA showed halo, nodules and masses, respectively. These signs were more frequently observed in IPA patients than in non-IPA patients. The CT halo, especially, seemed to be specific for IPA in hospitalized neutropenic patients with hematological malignancies who developed antibiotic-resistant fever. For CT findings other than these three signs, there were no significant differences between IPA- and non-IPA patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. kami-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kami
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kashima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masumoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Machida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtomo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mutou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001344:Autopsy; D005260:Female; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*