Prognostic indicators in patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and respiratory infection.
The records of 63 patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and respiratory infection comprising 78 hospitalizations over a 36-month period were reviewed to ascertain the etiology of the respiratory infection and to identify the factors influencing short-term survival. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) was diagnosed on 56 occasions in 46 patients. Fifty percent of patients with PCP died with respiratory failure; of these, all but 1 were diagnosed using fiber-optic bronchoscopy. In 18 patients in whom PCP was not identified by bronchoscopy, the in-hospital mortality was 17%. Of the clinical and laboratory findings on admission, only the arterial PO2 and the alveolar-arterial PO2 (AaPO2) difference were significantly different between the survivors and nonsurvivors. In patients with PCP and a AaPO2 greater than 60 mm Hg, 92% died. The demonstration of P. carinii by fiber-optic bronchoscopy and the presence of markedly abnormal gas exchange are associated with high in-hospital mortality.
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D011379:Prognosis; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*
D010100:Oxygen