Test | Strength of recommendation | Quality of evidence |
Direct microscopy for hyphae# | A | II |
Fungal culture (sputum or BAL)¶ | A | III |
Histology | A | II |
Fungal culture (transthoracic aspiration) | B | II |
Aspergillus PCR (respiratory secretion)+ | C | II |
Bacterial culture (sputum or BAL) | C | IIt |
BAL: bronchoalveloar lavage. #: positive microscopy is a strong indicator of infection; ¶: bacterial culture plates are less sensitive than fungal culture plates; +: PCR more sensitive than culture.