Prognostic features of galactomannan antigenemia in galactomannan-positive invasive aspergillosis

J Clin Microbiol. 2010 Apr;48(4):1255-60. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02281-09. Epub 2010 Feb 10.

Abstract

Prognostic features of serum galactomannan (GM) remain poorly defined in patients with GM-positive invasive aspergillosis (GPA). We identified 93 patients with proven or probable invasive aspergillosis (IA) and GM values of >or=0.50 from January 2005 to March 2009. We used Cox modeling of time to 6- and 12-week mortality for the GM level at the time of diagnosis (GM(0)), GM decay in the week following diagnosis in 72 patients with >or=2 GM values, other predictors of mortality, and antifungal use during the week following diagnosis. Six-week mortality was 55% in the whole cohort and 43% in patients with >or=2 GM determinations. The hazard ratio (HR) of GM(0) per unit increase and 1-week GM decay per unit decline per week were 1.25 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.54; P = 0.04) and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.63 to 0.96; P = 0.02), respectively, adjusting for other predictors of IA mortality; these values remained stable after adjusting for antifungal use and were predictive of all-cause mortality at 12 weeks with similar adjusted HR values. We conclude that the combination of GM(0) and 1-week GM decay is predictive of all-cause mortality in patients with GPA, independent of other traditional risk factors for mortality and antifungal exposure, supporting GM decay as a potential surrogate endpoint for future antifungal therapeutic trials.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antifungal Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antigens, Fungal / blood*
  • Aspergillosis / diagnosis*
  • Aspergillosis / drug therapy*
  • Aspergillosis / mortality
  • Female
  • Galactose / analogs & derivatives
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay / methods
  • Male
  • Mannans / blood*
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Serum / chemistry
  • Time Factors
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Antigens, Fungal
  • Mannans
  • galactomannan
  • Galactose