PNEUMOCYSTIS CARINII PNEUMONIA

¹ From the Departments of Pediatrics and Radiology, Temple University School of Medicine, and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pneumocystis Carinii pneumonia most often occurs in debilitated infants and children or those with more specific alterations of the immune mechanism. The characteristic clinical picture is one of progressive respiratory distress and cyanosis, with relatively few physical findings pertaining to the thorax. The roentgen findings are those of diffuse, granular pulmonary infiltrates which progress from the hili toward the periphery of the lung, becoming more and more confluent. Interstitial emphysema may be present and, not infrequently, pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum. Pleural reaction and hilar lymphadenopathy are absent. Although the roentgen findings are not specific with respect to the etiologic agent, when they are correlated with the clinical picture, the presumptive diagnosis of pneumonia due to Pneumocystis Carinii may be made.

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