Aspergillus fumigatus Isolated from Blood Samples of a Patient with Pulmonary Aspergilloma after Embolization

Aspergillus DNA was detected by PCR in the serum sample of a 78-year-old man and galactomannan antigen of Aspergillus by sandwich ELISA was found. However, the infiltrative hyphae were not detected by the histopathologic examination of the lung. He developed hemoptysis, which required embolization of bronchial arteries. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from blood samples after embolization by the lysis centrifugation method. To our knowledge, this is probably the first case in which Aspergillus spp. has been isolated from the systemic circulatory blood in a patient with pulmonary aspergilloma after embolization.(Internal Medicine 39: 188-190, 2000)