[Usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique in making early diagnosis and treatment of cytomegalovirus and Pneumocystis carinii-pneumonia in patients with hematological neoplasms].

Recently, the incidence of opportunistic infections in patients with hematological neoplasms has been markedly increasing. However, early and definitive diagnosis and treatment of these infections remain difficult. In this study, we report three patients, a 47-year-old female with ATL, a 54-year-old female with CML and a 65-year-old female with ATL. All these cases were complicated with pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii (Pc) or cytomegalovirus (CMV). They were successfully treated with sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim or ganciclovir after detection of the respective microorganisms from sputum samples in the early stage of the infections by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The above clinical evidence demonstrated the PCR technique to be a rapid and sensitive diagnostic procedure for the detection of Pc or CMV and to be helpful for the early initiation of appropriate treatment of the infections in patients with hematological neoplasms.