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The Acronym "PCP" is Pneumocystis Pneumonia, Not Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia

Postgraduate Institute of Medical
Education and Research Chandigarh-160012, India

I read with interest the article "Isolated Diffuse Ground-Glass Opacity in Thoracic CT: Causes and Clinical Presentations" [1] in which the authors review in a clear and concise manner the clinical scenarios and the causes of patients presenting with isolated diffuse ground-glass opacity. This review will help physicians and radiologists in the management of this group of patients. However, I was surprised by the terminology that is still prevalent in the radiologic parlance to describe human Pneumocystis infection.

Pneumocystis species were first described by Chagas in 1909 [2], and from that first description until recently, Pneumocystis organisms were thought to be protozoa. However in 1988, DNA analysis showed that the organisms are a fungus and not a protozoa [3]. Moreover, additional DNA data at the arom locus have subsequently shown that Pneumocystis organisms derived from humans and other mammalian host species differ, indicating host species specificity [4].

The organism that causes human Pneumocystis pneumonia was named Pneumocystis jiroveci at a Pneumocystis nomenclature meeting in 2001 at the Seventh International Workshop on Opportunistic Protists, in honor of the Czechoslovakian parasitologist Otto Jirovec who was one of the first researchers to describe Pneumocystis infection in humans [5].

Pneumocystis carinii should now be used to describe only the rat-derived infection [5, 6]. Use of the acronym "PCP" to describe the clinical syndrome of human Pneumocystis pneumonia, however, may still be continued because of its widespread usage but should mean Pneumocystis pneumonia. The term "Pneumocystis jiroveci" is already in wide use in medical publications describing human Pneumocystis infection [6-8] and should be accepted worldwide including in the radiology literature.

References

1. Miller WT Jr, Shah RM. Isolated diffuse ground-glass opacity in thoracic CT: causes and clinical presentations. AJR2005; 184:613 -622[Free Full Text]
2. Chagas C. Nova tripanosomiaze humana. Mem Istit Oswaldo Cruz 1909; 1:159 -218
3. Edman JC, Kovacs JA, Masur H, Santi DV, Elwood HJ, Sogin ML. Ribosomal sequence shows Pneumocystis carinii to be a member of the fungi. Nature 1988;334 : 519-522[CrossRef][Medline]
4. Banerji S, Lugli EB, Miller RF, Wakefield AE. Analysis of genetic diversity at the arom locus in isolates of Pneumocystis carinii. J Eukaryot Microbiol 1995;42 : 675-679[Medline]
5. [No authors listed]. Proceedings of the 7th International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists: Cincinnati, OH, USA, June 13-16, 2001. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2001; [suppl]:1S -204S
6. Stringer JR, Beard CB, Miller RF, Wakefield AE. A new name (Pneumocystis jiroveci) for Pneumocystis from humans. Emerg Infect Dis 2002;8 : 891-896[Medline]
7. Maskell NA, Waine DJ, Lindley A, et al. Asymptomatic carriage of Pneumocystis jiroveci in subjects undergoing bronchoscopy: a prospective study. Thorax 2003;58 : 594-597[Abstract/Free Full Text]
8. Vargas SL, Ponce C, Sanchez CA, Ulloa AV, Bustamante R, Juarez G. Pregnancy and asymptomatic carriage of Pneumocystis jiroveci. Emerg Infect Dis 2003;9 : 605-606[Medline]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. K. Saxena, R. Agarwal, and C. Hyun Lee It Is Time to Move: Pneumocystis Jirovecii, Not Pneumocystis Carinii Radiology, March 1, 2008; 246(3): 985 - 986. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Agarwal, C. Reddy, A. N. Aggarwal, A. K. Saxena, and B. Afessa It's Pneumocystis jiroveci Not Pneumocystis carinii. Chest, February 1, 2006; 129(2): 498 - 498. [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Agarwal, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Agarwal, R. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?