Bronchoalveolar galactomannan in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: a prospective study in pediatric patients.

Background: Elevations in the number of immunocompromised patients in the past decade has lead to progressive increase in the incidence of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (IPA) among children; however, early diagnosis remains a challenge. Detection of galactomannan (GM) in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid appears to possess higher sensitivity and specificity than serum in immunocompromised adult patients but, it rarely has been investigated in pediatric patients.

Methods: We performed a prospective case-control study to evaluate the efficacy of BAL GM in immunocompromised pediatric patients.