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 pre pared from induced sputum samples and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) spe cimens which have been stained with methenamine silver. We have examin ed 46 BAL/induced sputum specimens from patients who had clinical symp toms and signs suggestive of P. carinii pneumonia and measured the dia meter of a minimum 100 cysts in each specimen. We found that cyst size correlated with response to treatment with co-trimoxazole. This obser vation has implications for the therapeutic management of patients wit h this infection.