Abstract
Pulmonary aspergillosis constitutes an increasingly prevalent and potentially fatal
complex of mycotic diseases, caused by different species of Aspergillus. The broad spectrum of pathological manifestations associated with pulmonary aspergillosis
necessitates a differentiation of commensalism from saprophytic colonization, hypersensitivity
reactions, and true invasive infections, which highlights the importance of histopathology
as a gold standard in a diagnostic setting. For the past decades, changes in terminology
and contradicting contributions from different diagnostic disciplines have made the
classification of pulmonary aspergillosis rather confusing. This review offers a categorization
of aspergillosis lesions based on what can be histopathologically identified and distinguished,
differentiating between acute invasive infection and forms of subacute, chronic, and
allergic diseases and coinfections, and summarizes important manifestations of lesions
associated with the different forms of pulmonary aspergillosis.
Keywords
pulmonary aspergillosis - histopathology - fungal histology -
Aspergillus spp.
