Abstract
Two autopsy cases of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia were reported and wide review of literature was made.
A 16-and a 56-years-old Japanese male were administrated with combination of anticancerous drugs (6MP, Endoxan, Vincristin and Methotrexate) and corticosteroid hormone for months under clinical diagnosis of acute myelogenic leukemia and acute lymphogenic leukemia, respectively. The both patients died after 5 months from the administration of the above drugs. Post mortem examination revealed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in both cases. Abundant eosinophilic cystic structures with intracystic body were present in the alveolar lumens without any inflammatory cell infiltration as neutrophiles, lymphocytes and plasma cells except for some alveoral phagocytes and multinuclear giant cells of alveoral phagocite origin. No exudative lesion was also a prominent finding. Interstitial plasmocytic pneumonia was not seen in these two cases. Alveoral phagocytes were present around the cystic structures without any prominent phagocytic picture of them. The authors speculate that these phenomenon, no exudative and phagocytic, have close relation to deficient immunological tests up to date. For histological detection of pneumocystis carinii the authors will approve hematoxylin-eosin, PAS, methenamine silver and gramm stain.
