Mycoses
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Comparative Study
Molecular diagnosis of Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in immunocompromised patients.
Pneumocystis jiroveci is the major cause of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. To evaluate the performance of single and nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods compared with immunofluorescent assay (IFA) and cytological staining for diagnosis of P. jiroveci infection, the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and sputum samples from 60 immunocompromised patients were studied. Between January 2005 and March 2008, 75 respiratory specimens (41 BAL and 34 sputum samples) were examined for P. jiroveci identification. ⋯ These patients were classified as no Pneumocystis pneumonia. PCR detection of P. jiroveci is a very sensitive test and will offer a powerful technique in clinical laboratories for the routine diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia. Using the nested-PCR, additional clinical cases can be diagnosed, but there is then an obvious risk of detecting subclinical colonisation by P. jiroveci.