[Short-term efficacy evaluation of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis treated with micafangin and maintenance therapy of itraconazole].

We evaluated both the short-and long-term efficacy of micafungin in patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). We treated 26 patients with CPA, 19 with chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis (CNPA) and 7 with aspergilloma, with micafungin between February 2003 and September 2005. On completion of treatment (short-term efficacy evaluation), the efficacy rates of micafungin for CNPA and aspergilloma were 52.6% (10/19) and 71.4% (5/7), respectively, and the overall efficacy rate was 57.7% (15/26). Long-term efficacy was evaluable in 25 of 26 patients, and 15 patients, who responded favorably to micafungin, received maintenance therapy with itraconazole (200mg). In long-term efficacy evaluation, 10 patients were unchanged, but in 5 patients symptoms were exacerbated after 1.8 months (median time). This result suggests that establishing effective maintenance therapy, as well as acute-phase therapy, is important in the treatment of patients with CPA.