Spontaneous resolution of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia on high-resolution computed tomography in a patient with renal cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Spontaneous resolution of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia has rarely been reported.


METHODS
A 59-year-old man presented to our hospital because of pyrexia (38°C) and shaking chills for 2 days. He had a history of right nephrectomy due to renal cell carcinoma and left upper lobectomy for lung metastasis in the last 1.5 years. Two months previously, he was treated with oral prednisolone (20 mg/day) plus the intravenous mTOR inhibitor, temsirolimus (25 mg/week), for brain metastasis. On radiological examination, thoracic computed tomography showed diffuse ground glass opacities spreading in bilateral middle to lower lung fields. Although transbronchial biopsy specimens and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid demonstrated the presence of accumulation of black-colored Pneumocystis jirovecii cysts in the lung, his chief complaints and radiological abnormalities disappeared completely with no treatment. This case demonstrates a unique clinical presentation of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, in that spontaneous resolution was noted on clinical and sequential radiological evaluations.


CONCLUSIONS
Increasing numbers of cytotoxic drugs and biological therapies have emerged, and changes in the immune status due to underlying diseases or administration of immunosuppressive drugs might affect the inflammatory process of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, as in the present case.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicne, Tokyo, Japan.
Yasutaka
Y
Tanaka
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicne, Tokyo, Japan.
Takeshi
T
Saraya
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicne, Tokyo, Japan.
Daisuke
D
Kurai
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicne, Tokyo, Japan.
Haruyuki
H
Ishii
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicne, Tokyo, Japan.
Hajime
H
Takizawa
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicne, Tokyo, Japan.
Hajime
H
Goto
D001706:Biopsy; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D045363:Pneumocystis carinii / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*