Pulmonary Aspergilloma in a Turkish Hospital Population

Aiming to investigate the association between pulmonary aspergilloma and a history of pulmonary tuberculosis, 14 aspergilloma cases (10 males, 4 females) were identified from the patient files of our hospital between 1992-1998. Thirteen of these patients (%93) had a history of tuberculosis with post-tuberculous cavities and 1 patient had a history of diabetes mellitus and ade­nocarcinoma of the lung. Ten patients had radiographical changes consistent with aspergilloma. Sputum samples had been taken from 12 patients and 7 (%58) were positive for aspergillus on bacteriological smear. Bronchoscopy was performed in 12 patients and 9 were positive for aspergillus in both bronchoalveo­lar lavage material and tissue biopsy specimens.Ten patients with recurrent haemoptysis underwent thoracotomy and 1 patient underwent arterial embolization. Despite recurrent haemoptysis, surgical intervention could not be carried out in one patient due to his poor ventilation peformance score. Two patients were followed-up in the outpatient clinic without any intervention.This study has shown that in our hospital population, aspergilloma cases mostly appear in patients with post-tubercu­lous cavities rather than patients with other diseases leading to deficiencies in immunocompetence.