Clinical implications of serum galactomannan measurement in patients with acute invasive fungal rhinosinusitis

Background: Acute invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (AIFR) is an aggressive opportunistic infection with a high mortality rate. Recently, non-invasive techniques have been introduced for diagnosis of invasive fungal disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic significance of serum galactomannan measurement in patients with AIFR. Methodology: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of 28 patients with AIFR and 36 fungus ball (FB) patients. We evaluated clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings along with disease course. Results: In 28 patients with AIFR, there were 21 cases of invasive aspergillosis (IA) and 7 cases of invasive mucormycosis (IM).The control group was comprised of 36 patients with FB.The three-group analysis showed a statistically significant difference among the groups. At the cut-off value of 0.48, the sensitivity and specificity were 71.4% and 93.0%, respectively. Comparison of mean serum galactomannan levels in 5 non-survivors and 9 survivors at initial measurement showed no significant difference, but that became significantly different 1 week later. Statistical analysis showed that the levels of serum galactomannan decreased significantly according to the measurement-point in within survivor-group analysis.The difference in between survivor-groups analysis was also significant. Conclusion: Serum galactomannan measurement seems useful for early diagnosis and discrimination of fungal species in patients with AIFR. In addition, clinical outcomes may be related to the levels and patterns of serum galactomannan, especially in IA. The appropriate measurement of galactomannan might be helpful in treating the patients at high risk for AIFR.