Galactomannan antigen detection as a screening tool for early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis: Experience of Turkish adult patients

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the usefulness of galactomannan (GM) antigen as a screening test for the early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in adult patients in Turkish centers. Materials and Methods:PubMed was searched using the keywords "galactomannan" and "Turkey." Only studies that used the GM antigen as a screening tool in adult patients were included in the analysis.Results: Four peer-reviewed articles that matched the inclusion criteria were identified. A total of 314 adult patients with several hematological malignancies and who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were included in the four studies. Patients were followed up for 459 neutropenia episodes. GM antigen testing was performed in 2662 serum samples. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 23.07%-100%, 5.7%-90.36%, 6.7%-73.07%, and 55.5%-100%, respectively. Early diagnosis of IA by GM screening was found in only one patient in one of the four studies. Conclusion:The performance of the GM antigen test as a screening tool in Turkish centers was not promising. However, it can be used as a diagnostic test for patients with clinical and radiological findings suggesting invasive fungal disease.