Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in a patient without history of asthma: a case report

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a pulmonary hypersensitivity disease triggered by <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i>. While the standard first-line therapy per International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) guidelines is glucocorticoids or itraconazole alone, combination therapy may be used briefly for rapid symptom control. We present a 39-year-old man without asthma who presented with cough and sputum. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed diagnostic findings of central bronchiectasis and high-attenuation mucus, later confirmed as mucus plugs by bronchoscopy. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) detected a high load of <i>A. fumigatus</i>. Markedly elevated total IgE, <i>A. fumigatus</i>-specific IgE, and eosinophils confirmed ABPA. Although initial voriconazole monotherapy failed, adding oral glucocorticoids led to rapid clinical and radiographic improvement. No recurrence was observed on CT 7 months post-treatment, reinforcing that asthma is not a prerequisite for ABPA diagnosis.