BALF Findings in HIV-Infected Patients with Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia

Abstract

We studied the BALF findings in 11 HIV-infected patients with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia(PCP). Blood examinations revealed that mean counts of CD4 positive T cells were 45/μl and that serum LDH and CRP values had increased. In BALF findings we recognized mean total cell counts had not increased greatly. The findings of BALF revealed an increase in the percentage of the lymphocytes and decrease of the CD4/8 ratio. There was no significant difference in the BALF findings of non-smokers and smokers with PCP. We compared KL-6 concentration of BALF of HIV-infected patients with and without PCP. KL-6 concentration was significantly higher in patients with PCP than without PCP. We recognized a significant relationship between BALF KL-6 concentration and serum LDH value.