High mortality in invasive aspergillosis: what we need to know for determination of poor prognosis and next countermeasures. Clin Infect Dis 2008

Two major articles that provide definitions and guidelines regarding invasive asper-gillosis (IA) have recently been published in Clinical Infectious Diseases [1, 2]. These definitions and guidelines were updated from their previous versions, which were published in 2002 and 2000, respectively. Such frequent updates (occurring within 8 years) are required because of the com-plexity of aspergillosis and the introduc-tion of newer anti-Aspergillus drugs, such as voriconazole, echinocandins, and lipid formulations of amphotericin B. These changes also mean that there has been an evolution in the techniques used for th