Baseline Chest Computed Tomography as Standard of Care in High-Risk Hematology Patients

• Authors: STEMLER Jannik; BRUNS Caroline; MELLINGHOFF Sibylle C.; ALAKEL Nael; AKAN Hamdi; ANANDA-RAJAH Michelle; AUBERGER Jutta; BOJKO Peter; CHANDRASEKAR Pranatharthi H; CHAYAKULKEEREE Methee; COZZI Jossé A.; DE KORT Elizabeth A.; GROLL Andreas H.; HEATH Christopher H.; HENZE Larissa; JIMENEZ Marcos Hernandes; KANJ Souha S.; KHANNA Nina; KOLDENHOFF Michael; LEE Dong-Gun; MAGER Alina; MARCHESI Francesco; MARTINO-BUFARULL Rodrigo; NUCCI Marcio; OKSI Jarmo; PAGANO Livio; PHILLIPS Bob; PRATTES Juergen; PYRPASOPOULOU Athina; RABITSCH Werner; SCHALK Enrico; SCHMIDT-HIEBER Martin; SIDHARTHAN Neeraj; SOLER-PALACÍN Pere; STERN Anat; WEINBERGEROVÁ Barbora; EL-ZAKHEM Aline; CORNELY Oliver A.; KOEHLER Philipp
• Year of publication: 2020
• Type: Article in Periodical
• Magazine / Source: Journal of Fungi
• MU Faculty or unit: Faculty of Medicine
• Web: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151030/pdf/jof-06-00036.pdf
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jof6010036
• Keywords: invasive aspergillosis; chest computed tomography; hematological patient

Attached files

• jof-06-00036.pdf

• Description: Baseline chest computed tomography (BCT) in high-risk hematology patients allows for the early diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). The distribution of BCT implementation in hematology departments and impact on outcome is unknown. A web-based questionnaire was J. Fungi 2020, 6, 36 3 of 13 designed. International scientific bodies were invited. The estimated numbers of annually treated hematology patients, chest imaging timepoints and techniques, IPA rates, and follow-up imaging were assessed. In total, 142 physicians from 43 countries participated. Median estimated IPA rate was 8% and did not differ between BCT (9%; IQR 5–15%) and non-BCT centers (7%; IQR 5–10%) (p = 0.69). In high-risk hematology patients, baseline CT is becoming a standard-of-care. Chest X-ray, while inferior, is still widely used. Randomized, controlled trials are needed to investigate the impact of BCT on patient outcome.