Aerosolized Pentamidine for Prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia The San Francisco Community Prophylaxis Trial

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 323; no. 12; pp. 769 - 775
• Main Authors: Leoung, Gifford S, Feioal, David W, Montgomery, A. Bruce, Corkery, Kevin, Wardlaw, Linda, Adams, Michael, Busch, David, Gordon, Shelley, Jacobson, Mark A, Volberding, Paul A, Aurams, Donald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 20.09.1990
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; Aerosols; AIDS; Biological and medical sciences; CD4 antigen; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Drug Administration Schedule; Drug dosages; Drug Evaluation; Female; HIV; HIV Infections - complications; Hospitals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunopathology; Infections; Leukocyte Count; Male; Medical prognosis; Medical sciences; Medicine; Middle Aged; Opportunist infection; Pentamidine; Pentamidine - administration & dosage; Pentamidine - adverse effects; Pentamidine - therapeutic use; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - prevention & control; Prophylaxis; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Sarcoma, Kaposi - complications; Survival Rate; Zidovudine; Zidovudine - therapeutic use; Human; Immunopathology; Protozoa; Pneumonia; Respiratory disease; AIDS; Pneumocystis carinii; Infection; Chemotherapy; Treatment; Viral disease; Aerosols; Sporozoa
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199009203231201

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is the most frequent life-threatening opportunistic infection leading to the diagnosis of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), having affected at least 70,000 persons in the United States since 1981. 1 In patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, PCP is the most frequent cause of death. 2 In other immunosuppressed patients and patients with AIDS who have Kaposi's sarcoma, prophylaxis with trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole has been successful in preventing PCP. 3 4 5 In HIV-infected patients, adverse effects of trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, parenteral pentamidine, and pyrimethamine—sulfadoxine have limited the long-term administration of these drugs. 6 In contrast, aerosolized pentamidine can be delivered directly to the alveolar . . .