Calcium oxalate in the sputum may aid in the diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis: A report of two cases

We present two cases of pulmonary aspergillosis in which calcium oxalate crystals in the sputum proved to be a useful diagnostic clue. In case 1, Aspergillus hyphae was not identified; however, calcium oxalate crystals were present, and chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis was diagnosed. In c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tsutomu Maeno, Masakazu Sasaki, Yasushi Shibue, Kazuyuki Mimura, Hideaki Oka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-06-01
Series:Medical Mycology Case Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211753915000044
Description
Summary:We present two cases of pulmonary aspergillosis in which calcium oxalate crystals in the sputum proved to be a useful diagnostic clue. In case 1, Aspergillus hyphae was not identified; however, calcium oxalate crystals were present, and chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis was diagnosed. In case 2, calcium oxalate was detected and Aspergillus fumigatus was identified later. Thus, the presence of calcium oxalate in the sputum may be an important indicator for an A. fumigatus infection.
ISSN:2211-7539