Systemic infections with Aspergillus species in patients with hematological malignancies: current serological and molecular diagnostic approaches.

Within the recent years, novel molecular and serological methods have been developed to improve the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in patients with malignant hematological diseases being at highest risk for this life-threatening infection. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential for adequate therapeutic management, which, however, often remains difficult since most of the diagnostic tools used clinically at present either lack specificity or sensitivity, or both at the worst. The clinical value, advantages and remaining problems of recently developed serological assays and molecular approaches to detect this emerging pathogen are reviewed. Copyright 2001 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg