Aspergillosis history and symptoms
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Overview
A fungus ball in the lungs may cause no symptoms and may be discovered only with a chest x-ray. Or it may cause repeated coughing up of blood and—rarely—severe, even fatal, bleeding. A rapidly invasive Aspergillus infection in the lungs often causes cough, fever, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.
Aspergillosis affecting the deeper tissues makes a person very ill. Symptoms include fever, chills, shock, delirium, and blood clots. The person may develop kidney failure, liver failure (causing jaundice), and breathing difficulties. Death can occur quickly.
Aspergillosis of the ear canal causes itching and occasionally pain. Fluid draining overnight from the ear may leave a stain on the pillow. Aspergillosis of the sinuses causes a feeling of congestion and sometimes pain or discharge.
Symptoms
The different kinds of aspergillosis can cause different symptoms.
- Symptoms of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) may include:
- Wheezing
- Coughing
- Fever (in rare cases)
- Symptoms of invasive aspergillosis may include:
- Fever
- Chest pain
- Coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Aspergilloma, or “fungus ball”
Other symptoms may develop if the infection spreads beyond the lungs. When invasive aspergillosis spreads outside of the lungs, it can cause symptoms in almost any organ
In addition to the symptoms, an x-ray or computerised tomography (CT) scan of the infected area provides clues for making the diagnosis. Whenever possible, a doctor sends a sample of infected material to a laboratory to confirm identification of the fungus.
References
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