Serum galactomannan antigen test for the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis.
BACKGROUND
A serum galactomannan (GM) antigen test has been widely used to diagnose invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. However, there are limited data on the use of the serum GM antigen test for the serologic diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA).


METHODS
Data were collected from all consecutive patients with a clinical suspicion of CPA who underwent a serum GM antigen test.


RESULTS
In total, 334 patients who were suspected to have CPA were eligible for this study and 168 (50%) patients were finally diagnosed with CPA. The serum GM antigen test was positive in 38 (23%) patients with CPA and in 25 (15%) patients without CPA. The sensitivity of the serum GM antigen test was 23% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17-30%), and its specificity was 85% (95% CI, 79-90%), with positive and negative predictive values of 60% (95% CI, 47-72%) and 52% (95% CI, 46-58%), respectively. The accuracy of the test was 54%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.538 (95% CI, 0.496-0.580).


CONCLUSIONS
The serum GM antigen test could not be used for the serologic diagnosis of CPA.
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Beomsu
B
Shin
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Won-Jung
WJ
Koh
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Byeong-Ho
BH
Jeong
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hongseok
H
Yoo
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hye Yun
HY
Park
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Critical Care Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Gee Young
GY
Suh
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
O Jung
OJ
Kwon
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Critical Care Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kjeon@skku.edu.
Kyeongman
K
Jeon
D000368:Aged; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005690:Galactose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008351:Mannans / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D055732:Pulmonary Aspergillosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods; D044967:Serum / Q000737:chemistry
D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D015415:Biomarkers; D008351:Mannans; C012990:galactomannan; D005690:Galactose
Diagnosis; Galactomannan; Pulmonary aspergillosis; Serum