Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in intensive care units: a multicenter study by ESGCIP and EFISG.

Giacobbe, Daniele Roberto; Dettori, Silvia; Di Pilato, Vincenzo; Asperges, Erika; Ball, Lorenzo; Berti, Enora; Blennow, Ola; Bruzzone, Bianca; Calvet, Laure; Capra Marzani, Federico; Casabella, Antonio; Choudaly, Sofia; Dartevel, Anais; De Pascale, Gennaro; Di Meco, Gabriele; Fallon, Melissa; Galerneau, Louis-Marie; Gallego, Miguel; Giacomini, Mauro; González Sáez, Adolfo; Hänsel, Luise; Icardi, Giancarlo; Koehler, Philipp; Lagrou, Katrien; Lahmer, Tobias; Lewis White, P; Magnasco, Laura; Marchese, Anna; Marelli, Cristina; Marín-Arriaza, Mercedes; Martin-Loeches, Ignacio; Mekontso-Dessap, Armand; Mikulska, Malgorzata; Mularoni, Alessandra; Nordlander, Anna; Poissy, Julien; Russelli, Giovanna; Signori, Alessio; Tascini, Carlo; Vaconsin, Louis-Maxime; Vargas, Joel; Vena, Antonio; Wauters, Joost; Pelosi, Paolo; Timsit, Jean-Francois; Bassetti, Matteo     «

Giacobbe, Daniele Roberto; Dettori, Silvia; Di Pilato, Vincenzo; Asperges, Erika; Ball, Lorenzo; Berti, Enora; Blennow, Ola; Bruzzone, Bianca; Calvet, Laure; Capra Marzani, Federico; Casabella, Antonio; Choudaly, Sofia; Dartevel, Anais; De Pascale, Gennaro; Di Meco, Gabriele; Fallon, Melissa; Galerneau, Louis-Marie; Gallego, Miguel; Giacomini, Mauro; González Sáez, Adolfo; Hänsel, Luise; Icardi, Giancarlo; Koehler, Philipp; Lagrou, Katrien; Lahmer, Tobias; Lewis White, P; Magnasco, Laura; Marche...     »

BACKGROUND: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic, life-threatening disease commonly affecting immunocompromised patients. The distribution of predisposing diseases or conditions in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and subjected to diagnostic work-up for PJP has seldom been explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The primary objective of the study was to describe the characteristics of ICU patients subjected to diagnostic workup for PJP. The secondary objectives were: (i) to assess demographic and clinical variables associated with PJP; (ii) to assess the performance of Pneumocystis PCR on respiratory specimens and serum BDG for the diagnosis of PJP; (iii) to describe 30-day and 90-day mortality in the study population. RESULTS: Overall, 600 patients were included in the study, of whom 115 had presumptive/proven PJP (19.2%). Only 8.8% of ICU patients subjected to diagnostic workup for PJP had HIV infection, whereas hematological malignancy, solid tumor, inflammatory diseases, and solid organ transplants were present in 23.2%, 16.2%, 15.5%, and 10.0% of tested patients, respectively. In multivariable analysis, AIDS (odds ratio [OR] 3.31; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-9.64, p = 0.029), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (OR 3.71; 95% CI 1.23-11.18, p = 0.020), vasculitis (OR 5.95; 95% CI 1.07-33.22, p = 0.042), metastatic solid tumor (OR 4.31; 95% CI 1.76-10.53, p = 0.001), and bilateral ground glass on CT scan (OR 2.19; 95% CI 1.01-4.78, p = 0.048) were associated with PJP, whereas an inverse association was observed for increasing lymphocyte cell count (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42-1.00, p = 0.049). For the diagnosis of PJP, higher positive predictive value (PPV) was observed when both respiratory Pneumocystis PCR and serum BDG were positive compared to individual assay positivity (72% for the combination vs. 63% for PCR and 39% for BDG). Cumulative 30-day mortality and 90-day mortality in patients with presumptive/proven PJP were 52% and 67%, respectively. CONCLUSION: PJP in critically ill patients admitted to ICU is nowadays most encountered in non-HIV patients. Serum BDG when used in combination with respiratory Pneumocystis PCR could help improve the certainty of PJP diagnosis.      «

BACKGROUND: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic, life-threatening disease commonly affecting immunocompromised patients. The distribution of predisposing diseases or conditions in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and subjected to diagnostic work-up for PJP has seldom been explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The primary objective of the study was to describe the characteristics of ICU patients subjected to diagnostic workup for PJP. The secondary o...     »