ArticleBMC infectious diseases2019
Serum-based diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia by detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii DNA and 1,3-β-D-glucan in HIV-infected patients: a retrospective case control study.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Global prevalence, mortality, and main characteristics of HIV-associated pneumocystosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Current status and prospects in diagnosis of major opportunistic fungal infections among HIV-positive population in south provinces of China and neighboring countries that are suffering high prevalence of AIDS.Biosafety and health · 2026Review
- Article
- Concurrent pulmonary, hepatic and cerebral pneumocystosis: case report and review of the literature.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Review
- Non-invasive diagnosis of invasive fungal disease with cell-free DNA PCR.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2026Review
- CRISPR-mediated detection of Pneumocystis transcripts in bronchoalveolar, oropharyngeal, and serum specimens for Pneumocystis pneumonia diagnosis.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Article
- An overview of the laboratory diagnosis ofJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025Review
- A case report of AIDS complicated byFrontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Nucleic-Acid-Based Molecular Fungal Diagnostics: A Way to a Better Future.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Diagnostic performance of metagenomic sequencing in patients with suspected infection: a large-scale retrospective study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia Secondary to Blinatumomab Therapy: A Case Report.Chemotherapy · 2024Article
- Relationship between clinical features and droplet digital PCR copy number in non-HIV patients with pneumocystis pneumonia.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Risk factors associated with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in non-HIV immunocompromised patients and co-pathogens analysis by metagenomic next-generation sequencing.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Opportunistic etiological agents causing lung infections: emerging need to transform lung-targeted delivery.Heliyon · 2022Review
- The first detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii in asthmatic patients post-COVID-19 in Jordan.Bosnian journal of basic medical sciences · 2022Article
- Usefulness of ß-d-Glucan Assay for the First-Line Diagnosis ofJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Accuracy of Pneumocystis jirovecii Plasma Cell-Free DNA PCR for Noninvasive Diagnosis of Pneumocystis Pneumonia.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2022Article
- Invasive Respiratory Fungal Infections in COVID-19 Critically Ill Patients.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
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Abstract
backgroundPneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is one of the most common HIV-related opportunistic infections. The diagnosis of PCP is based on analyses from respiratory tract specimens which may require the invasive procedure of a diagnostic bronchoscopy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic potential of Pneumocystis jirovecii PCR in serum combined with the 1,3-β-D-glucan (betaglucan) test for the diagnosis of PCP in HIV-infected patients.
methodsThis was a retrospective case-control study including serum samples from 26 HIV-infected patients with PCP collected within 5 days prior to the start of PCP treatment, 21 HIV-infected control subjects matched by blood CD4
resultsAll patients with PCP had detectabe Pneumocystis jirovecii DNA in serum yielding a sensitivity for the Pneumocystis jirovecii PCR assay in serum of 100%. All blood donors had negative Pneumocystis PCR in serum. The specificity when testing HIV-infected patients was 71%, but with a PCR Cycle threshold (Ct) value of 34 as cut-off the specificity was 90%. At a putative pretest probaility of 20%, the negative and positive predictive value for the Pneumocystis PCR assay in serum was 0.99 and 0.71, respectively. Betaglucan with cut-off level 200 pg/ml combined with a positive Pneumocystis jirovecii PCR result had sensitivity and specificity of 92 and 90%, respectively. The concentration of Pneumocystis jirovecii DNA in serum samples, expressed by the PCR Ct values, correlated inversely to the betaglucan levels in serum.
conclusionIn this case-control study including 70% of all HIV-infected patients with PCP treated at Sahlgrenska University Hospital during a time period of 13 years, Pneumocystis PCR analysis on serum samples had a very high sensitivity and negative predictive value for the diagnosis of PCP in HIV-infected patients. A serum-based diagnostic procedure either based on Pneumocystis jirovecii PCR alone or in combination with betaglucan analysis may thus be feasible and would facilitate the care of HIV-infected patients with suspected PCP.
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