Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an emerging fungal disease.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a necrotizing pneumonia caused by airborne opportunistic fungi of Aspergillus species. Patients with advanced-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have emerged to be at risk for IPA as a result of the overall improvement of long-term management of the disease. IPA is among the most severe infectious event that may occur during the course of COPD resulting from profound immune impairment and associated with poor outcome. Many aspects of the development of IPA in COPD patients differ from hematologic patients, explaining various patterns of IPA in an expanded population of immunocompromised patients. Therefore, it is legitimate to focus on the literature-based data available regarding the factors involved in the development of IPA in this setting as well as the use and interpretation of diagnosis criteria, and the treatment options.