Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia: relationship between cyst size and response to treatment.
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is a common cause of death in patients with AIDS. Diagnosis is based on cytological examination of smears prepared from induced sputum samples and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens which have been stained with methenamine silver. We have examined 46 BAL/induced sputum specimens from patients who had clinical symptoms and signs suggestive of P. carinii pneumonia and measured the diameter of a minimum 100 cysts in each specimen. We found that cyst size correlated with response to treatment with co-trimoxazole. This observation has implications for the therapeutic management of patients with this infection.
Department of Cytopathology, Saint Mary's Hospital, London, UK.
J F
JF
Wazir
J
J
Wadsworth
D V
DV
Coleman
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome