title: Antifungal combination therapy for invasive aspergillosis.
abstract: The outcome of invasive aspergillosis (IA) continues to be associated with significant attributable mortality, especially in patients with hematological malignancies and in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. In this context, antifungal combined therapy (ACT) has become an emerging strategy against IA. In an attempt to evaluate the benefits of ACT, a large number of experimental studies, clinical series, and randomized trials have been performed, with varying results. In addition, several controlled trials have been registered; however, in most cases, their final results have not been made available. In summary, there is an imbalance between the lack of published evidence regarding the benefits of ACT and its extensive and increasing use in current clinical practice, despite its associated cost. Here, we present a critical analysis of the available information regarding ACT for the treatment of IA as well as the authors' opinion with respect to its use.
authors.affiliation: Unidad Clínica de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Microbiología y Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Sevilla Red Española para la Investigación en Patología Infecciosa.
authors.forename: Almudena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martín-Peña
authors.affiliation: Unidad Clínica de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Microbiología y Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Sevilla Red Española para la Investigación en Patología Infecciosa.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Guisado
authors.affiliation: Red Española para la Investigación en Patología Infecciosa Unidad Clínica de Hematología y Hemoterapia, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Ildefonso
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Espigado
authors.affiliation: Unidad Clínica de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Microbiología y Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Sevilla Red Española para la Investigación en Patología Infecciosa.
authors.forename: José Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cisneros
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents
keywords: antifungal combined therapy; invasive aspergillosis; salvage therapy