DIAGNOSTIC STRATEGIES OF PNEUMOCYSTIS PNE UMONIA IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS - DECISION-ANALYSIS AND ECONOMIC-IMPLICATIONS

P. carinii pneumonia is one of the most frequent opportunistic infecti ons in HIV-infected patients. Clinical and radiological manifestations are non specific and reference diagnostic procedure remains broncho-a lveolar lavage which is costly and invasive. Alternative diagnostic st rategies have been proposed. We report here our experience as well as literature date in this field with the purpose to show the usefulness of decision analysis techniques in choosing an optimal cost-effective strategy.