OBJECTIVETo explore the value of circulating galactomannan (GM) screening for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of invasive aspergillosis (IA).

METHODSSerum samples from 141 IA patients for the detection of GM by Platelia Aspergillus (Bia-Rad) were collected before and after systematic anti-fungal therapy.

RESULTS(1) An increase in the clinical diagnosis rate of IA was obtained on the result of GM detection. The GM positivity appeared (10+/-4.1) (8-15) d before positive sputum culture, while (12.6+/-5.7) (6-22) d before the CT positive image. (2) Among the 62 patients with consecutive serum samples, 50 were success in treatment and 12 died. A progressive decrease of GM level was found in the former group, while the rising antigen titres were found in the latter.

CONCLUSIONCompared with other diagnostic test, GM test has an obvious advantage of higher positivity and earlier result. The anti-fungal effectiveness can be estimated by dynamic detection of serum GM.