Detección de Pneumocystis carinii (P. jiroveci), por técnica inmunocitoquímica, en pacientes con fibrosis quística

introduction. difficulties in treating cystic fibrosis patients prompted us to investigate uncommon pathogens in severe or unremitting cystic fibrosis exacerbations. objective. we searched for pneumocystis carinii (pc) in severe or difficult to control exacerbations of our cystic fibrosis patients population. population, material and methods. we investigated the presence of (pc) in our cystic fibrosis population (57 patients), from january 1995 until july 2002. we performed 41 bronchoalveolar lavage (bal) and immunostained for pc by the avidin-biotin with biotynilated secondary antibody. results. pc was detected in 5 patients out of 41 bal examined. all patients were hiv-negative and were non-immunocompromised (dako). conclusions. we found a frequency 12.19% of pc in 41 bronchoalveolar lavage of cf patients with severe or persistent exacerbations. pc as well as other uncommon pathogens must be sought in patients with severe cf exacerbations. current epidemiological knowledge and serological difficulties do not allow to draw definitive conclusions regarding medical treatment of such patients. clinical outcome suggests that some of these patients might only be colonized by pc and specific medication may be unnecessary.