The application of next-generation sequencing diagnosing invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: three case reports

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a severe infectious disease with high mortality. However, the clinical diagnosis of IPA remains difficult since the microbiological evidence is hard to acquire. The main issue of the current microbiological methods is that they are time-consuming and offer a low yield. Currently, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has become an attractive alternative method for broad-based pathogen discovery due to the rapid turnaround time and high accuracy. This article describes 3 cases of IPA. Two patients had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, and the other patient had no underlying diseases. The Aspergillus fumigatus gene was found in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in all three cases by NGS. This report explores the role of NGS in the diagnosis of IPA and emphasizes that IPA may occur in non-neutropenic patients.