Spontaneous pneumothorax in AIDS patients with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

Although spontaneous pneumothorax has rarely been reported as a complication of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS patients, recent experience suggests that its frequency is increasing. Seven such cases have been encountered in the past 1 1/2 years, whereas no cases were found in an earlier review at San Francisco General Hospital of 90 AIDS patients of whom 56 had Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. The cause of this increasing frequency is unknown.