[Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Necropsy series].

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a severe infection which is usually diagnosed at postmortem examination. This infection occurs mainly in immunosuppressed patients, although it has also been reported in immunocompetent patients. Clinical records from patients diagnosed with IPA in our institution from 1983 to 1992 were retrospectively studied to analyse clinical and therapeutical characteristics of IPA. Sixteen episodes of IPA were recorded, all of them but one from necrotic specimens. A total of 18.7% of patients were immunocompetent, one patient had the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and the remaining patients had a classical immunosuppression. Fever and dyspnea were noted in all patients; hemoptysis was recorded in 12.5% of patients. The predominant radiological pattern was a bilateral alveolar infiltrate (75%). Diagnosis was made at postmortem examination in 15 cases (93.7%), and a clinical premortem suspicion was obtained only in 25% of patients. IPA can occur in immunocompetent patients more frequently than considered until now. The suspicion index for IPA is low, even in immunosuppressed patients.