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Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the treatment of choice for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), but compliance and variables involved in long-term CPAP adherence in females with OSA are unknown.We performed an observational study including all consecutive females diagnosed with CPAP who started CPAP treatment in two Spanish teaching hospitals between 1999 and 2007 and were followed-up until December 2010. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the probability of continuing with CPAP treatment and a multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to identify baseline predictors of CPAP dropout.We analysed 708 females, median (interquartile range) age 60 (52-67) years and apnoea-hypopnoea index 43.0 (27.2-66.8). Females were followed for a median of 6.2 (4.2-7.7) years. The probability of still being on CPAP at 5 and 10 years was 82.8% and 79.9%, respectively. The median CPAP use was 6 (interquartile range 4-7) h?day -1 . In the multivariate analysis, independent baseline predictors of CPAP dropout were psychoactive medication (hazard ratio 1.47, 95% CI 1.03-2.08), age (hazard ratio 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.03) and CPAP pressure (hazard ratio 0.89, 95% CI 0.81-0.96).Long-term CPAP adherence in females with OSA is good. Psychoactive medication and increasing age were independent predictors of CPAP dropout, whereas higher CPAP was associated with continued treatment. @ERSpublications Long-term CPAP adherence in females with OSA is good; psychoactive medication and increasing age predicted CPAP dropout http://ow.ly/nzS1F

Diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is challenging. The objective of the study was to assess the value of microbiological tests to the diagnosis of IPA in the absence of non-specific radiological data. A retrospective study of 23 patients with suspicion of IPA and positivity of some microbiological diagnostic tests was performed. These tests included conventional microbiological culture, detection of Aspergillus galactomannan (GM) antigen and in some patients (1 → 3)-β-D-glucan (BDG) and Aspergillus fumigatus DNA using the LightCycler SeptiFast test. In 10 patients with hematological malignancy, 6 cases were considered 'probable' and 4 'non-classifiable.' In 8 patients with chronic lung disease, 7 cases were classified as 'probable' and 1 as 'proven,' and in 5 patients with prolonged ICU stay (>7 days), there were 2 'proven' cases, 2 'non-classifiable' and 1 putative case. Microbiological culture was positive in 17 cases and 18 Aspergillus spp. were isolated (one mixed culture). A. fumigatus was the most frequent (44.4%) followed by A. tubingensis. The Aspergillus galactomannan (GM) antigen assay was positive in 21 cases (91.3%). The GM antigen and the (1 → 3)-β-D-glucan (BDG) assays were both performed in 12 cases (52.2%), being positive in 9. The SeptiFast test was performed in 7 patients, being positive in 4. In patients with non-classifiable pulmonary aspergillosis and one or more positive microbiological tests, radiological criteria may not be considered a limiting factor for the diagnosis of IPA.

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