All participants enrolled were Caucasian and recruited in the University Hospital Virgen de las Nieves (Granada, Spain) or in the University Hospital of Salamanca (Salamanca, Spain). All determinations and genetic analyses in hematological patients were performed with fully informed written consent, and anonymity of the data was guaranteed. The study protocol was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada, Spain. The population included 182 hematological patients recruited between January 2004 and January 2011. All hematological patients in this study received a prolonged chemotherapy treatment or underwent HSCT and were therefore considered susceptible to develop IPA infection. Demographic information and clinical data were obtained by detailed review of hospital records. Data were gathered on: site of infection; host factor criteria (severe neutropenia for .10 days, persistent fever for .96 h refractory to appropriate broad-spectrum antibacterial treatment, signs and symptoms indicating graft-versus-host disease [GVHD], corticoid therapy [.0.3 mg/kg per day], and invasive fungal infection during a previous episode of neutropenia), microbiological criteria (positive result for Aspergillus antigen in $2 consecutive blood samples when considering an index of 0.5 or in only 1 sample when the index was higher than 0.8), and clinical criteria of lower respiratory tract infection [major criteria: any of the following new infiltrates on computed tomography (CT) imaging: halo sign, aircrescent sign, or cavity within area of consolidation; minor criteria: cough, thoracic pain, hemoptysis, pathologic pulmonary sound, and radiological evidence suggestive of invasive infection]. Laboratory data were also recorded. Proven and probable IPA was diagnosed based on the updated criteria (2008) reported by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Invasive Fungal Infections Cooperative Group (EORTC/ IFICG) [31] .