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Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Current methods of diagnosis, including culture and antigen detection, are insensitive. However, filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus produce an array of extracellular metabolites, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The type and pattern of these released compounds may be specific to particular fungi, and their detection and characterization could serve as a diagnostic tool.
To examine this possibility, researchers in Boston cultured several species of Aspergillus, including A. fumigatus (the most common cause of IA), under a variety of conditions and used gas chromatography with mass spectrometry to characterize the pattern …