These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in children.
    Author: Hallett JJ, Fickenscher LG, Ablin AR.
    Journal: West J Med; 1977 Jun; 126(6):441-4. PubMed ID: 301686.
    Abstract:
    From a retrospective study at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, it is evident that pneumocystic carinii pneumonia is being seen more frequently as a secondary complication to the use of immunosuppressive drugs. This disease presents with nonspecific respiratory symptoms, therefore a high degree of suspicion and knowledge of the population at risk are necessary for an early diagnosis. Except for x-ray films of the chest, physical and laboratory studies are of minimal diagnostic value. In a patient with compromised immune defenses and respiratory distress, bilateral diffuse reticular infiltrates seen on a film of the chest are highly suggestive of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. The diagnosis should be confirmed histologically because a variety of pathogens can cause these findings and each requires a specific treatment. At our institution, open thoracotomy is the method of choice for obtaining a lung biopsy specimen. Pentamidine isothionate is moderately effective against this usually fatal disease, but its effectiveness depends on beginning treatment early in the illness.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]