Management of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with AIDS and other conditions: experience in a Philadelphia University Teaching Hospital.

We reviewed the records of 49 patients who had 55 episodes of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) from January 1984 to January 1987. Thirty-three patients had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), with the risk groups being homosexual/bisexual practices (26), hemophilia (6), and blood transfusion (1). Fourteen patients had a history of malignancy or chemotherapy and two underwent organ transplantation. Overall response to therapy of PCP was 75% (77% of patients with AIDS, 68% of those with other conditions). All six relapses occurred in patients with AIDS. Both trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and pentamidine were associated with a higher rate of toxicity in those patients than in patients with other conditions. A 30% rate of failure due to side effects occurred when TMP-SMX was used as initial therapy, but the combination is considered effective and should be given an adequate therapeutic trial. Pentamidine was an effective alternative for patients who failed with TMP-SMX and for those who failed therapy due to side effects, but was associated with serious toxicities. Our experience was similar in some respects to previous published results from New York and California.