False Positive Galactomannan Test after Ice-Pop Ingestion

Abstract

Challenges remain in the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. In this report, the potential for diet to affect the interpretation of the galactomannan assay is presented. TO THE EDITOR: A 42-year-old woman received an HLA-matched hematopoietic stem-cell transplant from an unrelated donor for a myeloproliferative syndrome. Serum aspergillus antigen (galactomannan) (Bio-Rad Laboratories) was assessed twice weekly from the day of transplantation and remained negative (index, <0.5) until 30 days after transplantation. The index increased to 2.22 and 3.01 on days 32 and 34, respectively. At that time, the patient had severe gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). She was afebrile with no pulmonary or sinus symptoms. Computed tomographic (CT) scans of the lung, brain, and sinus were normal, and a CT scan of the abdomen showed no evidence . . .