Pulmonary Aspergilloma Surgery: a Mono-Institutional Experience

Introduction: Pulmonary aspergiloma or mycetoma is a saprophytic colonization of a preexisting cavity by aspergilloma. Surgical resection is the only effective long-term treatment, but remains controversial because of the high rate of complications in the perioperative and postoperative time. Objectives: Analysis of the experience of a Cardiothoracic Surgery Center for the treatment of pulmonary aspergilloma and evaluation of the prognostic factors after surgery. Material and Methods: Retrospective analysis including all the patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary aspergilloma submitted to surgery for a 10 years period, in a single institution (June 2001-June 2011). Results: The study included 22 patients (18 men) with a mean age of 51.0 +/- 17.4 years. Of them, 46% were smokers, 41% were alcoholic and 50% had a previous history of tuberculosis. Most of the patients had a complex aspergilloma (73%) and 17% a simple aspergilloma. The most common presentation was hemoptysis (50%). The common surgical procedure performed was atypical lung resection in 55%, lobectomy in 27% and pneumectomy in 9%. Two patients were submitted to thoracoplasty. There was one operative death (5%). Postoperative complications occurred in 36% and the most frequent were pneumothorax (18%) and empyema (18%). The mean follow-up period was 52 months (3 - 116) and the 5 years mortality rate of 35%. Of them, 4 patients died because of non-related causes and 3 were immunosuppressed patients. The mortality was 40% in the group of complex aspergilloma and 33% in the group of complex aspergilloma. Discussion: The most common surgical procedure performed was atypical lung resection. The postoperative complications rate was similar to previous studies. Conclusion: Surgical resection of aspergilloma presents a low morbidity and mortality. Therefore, for patients with lung function preserved, it is the preferred treatment.