2002•Clinical Infectious DiseasesOpen access
Defining Opportunistic Invasive Fungal Infections in Immunocompromised Patients with Cancer and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants: An International Consensus
S. Ascioglu, John H. Rex, Ben de Pauw, John E. Bennett, Jacques Billé, Françoise Crokaert, David W. Denning, J. Peter Donnelly, J. E. Edwards, Zoran Erjavec, Denis M. Fiere, Olivier Lortholary, Johan A. Maertens, Jacques F. G. M. Meis, Thomas F. Patterson, Jörg Ritter, Dominik Selleslag, PRAMOD M. SHAH, David A. Stevens, Thomas J. Walsh
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Abstract
During the past several decades, there has been a steady increase in the frequency of opportunistic invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in immunocompromised patients. However, there is substantial controversy concerning optimal diagnostic criteria for these IFIs. Therefore, members of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Invasive Fungal Infections Cooperative Group and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Mycoses Study Group formed a consensus committee to develop standard definitions for IFIs for clinical research. On the basis of a review of literature and an international consensus, a set of research-oriented definitions for the IFIs most often seen and studied in immunocompromised patients with cancer is proposed. Three levels of probability are proposed: "proven," "probable," and "possible." The definitions are intended for use in the context of clinical and/or epidemiological research, not for clinical decision making.