Does cyclosporin A adversely affect Pneumocystis carinii infection?

Fourteen immunosuppressed patients with Pneumocystis carinii infection presented in two clusters that were separated by 2 years. The diagnosis in all cases was made early by alveolar lavage with cytology. The first group of seven patients was immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide or azathioprine an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Postgraduate medical journal 1988-09, Vol.64 (755), p.659-662
Main Authors: McGonigle, R. J., Beaman, M., Stone, J., Young, J., Michael, J., Adu, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anti-Infective Agents - therapeutic use
Cyclosporins - adverse effects
Drug Combinations - therapeutic use
Female
Humans
Immunosuppression - adverse effects
Male
Middle Aged
Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - drug therapy
Prognosis
Sulfamethoxazole - therapeutic use
Trimethoprim - therapeutic use
Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Fourteen immunosuppressed patients with Pneumocystis carinii infection presented in two clusters that were separated by 2 years. The diagnosis in all cases was made early by alveolar lavage with cytology. The first group of seven patients was immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide or azathioprine and prednisolone. All recovered with high dose co-trimoxazole. The second group of seven patients was on prednisolone and cyclosporin A. Despite identical treatment three patients died and a further two who survived lost their grafts from rejection. Our data suggest that cyclosporin A adversely affects the prognosis from Pneumocystis carinii infection and raises the question of prophylactic co-trimoxazole in these patients. The clustering of Pneumocystis carinii infection suggests the possibility of nosocomial transmission although in this study we were unable to implicate person-to-person spread of infection.
ISSN:0032-5473
1469-0756
DOI:10.1136/pgmj.64.755.659