Interferon gamma replacement as salvage therapy in chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: effects on frequency of acute exacerbation and all-cause hospital admission.

Abstract

Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is often poorly responsive to antifungal treatment; secondary infections increase morbidity/mortality, particularly in progressive cases. Interferon gamma (IFNγ) has been implicated in not only <i>Aspergillus</i> control but also bacterial clearance. Clinical notes of patients with CPA treated with IFNγ (2011-2018) were retrospectively hand-searched. In patients treated for >12 months (n=20), the frequency of acute exacerbation reduced from 3.1 to 1.4 episodes/year (p=0.006) in the 12 months after treatment initiation compared with the 12 months before. A significant reduction in the frequency of hospital admissions/year was also observed (0.8 to 0.3, p=0.04). These findings support further prospective studies.