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Serious infectious complications of corticosteroid therapy for COPD.

We report seven elderly patients with COPD who developed serious infectious complications during prolonged treatment with high doses of corticosteroids. Infections included invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, Herpes simplex stomatitis and esophagitis, cytomegalovirus pneumonia, bacterial sepsis, fungemia and meningitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans. Each of the three patients who developed invasive aspergillus pneumonia died. The efficacy of prolonged therapy with high doses of corticosteroids in patients with COPD is not proven. These cases illustrate the potential for serious infections in patients with COPD treated with corticosteroids.