title: Long-term survival of patients with AIDS, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and respiratory failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  --To evaluate the long-term survival of patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Ill, with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  --Cohort study over a 4-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  --Municipal teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  --Seventy-three consecutive patients who had 75 episodes of P carinii pneumonia and acute respiratory failure were followed up from the time of hospital admission until their deaths or the termination of the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  --Duration of survival from the time of initial hospital admission with diagnoses of P carinii pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  --Consistent with recent reports of improved short-term outcome, the immediate hospital survival was 47% (35/75). The 1-year survival was 37% (95% confidence interval, 26% to 49%). Two patients have survived for 40 months. Almost three quarters of the patients who survived hospitalization lived for at least 1 year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  --The long-term prognosis for patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, P carinii pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure is now substantially better than anticipated. Respiratory failure due to P carinii pneumonia does not necessarily signify the terminal phase of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Accordingly, patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, P carinii pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure can be appropriate candidates for life support in medical intensive care units.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Ill 60612.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freels
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Weil
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000401:mortality*; D000328:Adult; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000401:mortality*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000401:mortality*