To evaluate the clinical efficacy and usefulness of Calcofluor white stain in the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), we performed Calcofluor white stain in bronchoalveloar lavage fluid from 10 compromised patients with fever,
dyspnea,
and diffuse pulmonary infiltrates. Four of 10 cases showed positive staining for P. carinii with Calcofluor white staining. underlying diseases were ALL, AML, AIDS, and Pinealoblastom, respectively. These patients had been treated with Bactrim
for
2 or
3 weeks with complete cure. Calcofluor white stain has clear advantages over conventional staining methods such ad Gomori methenamine silver, Toluidine blue O, or Giemsa stain in terms of speed and simplicity of the technique. this method is
believed to
be suitable for early diagnosis of PCP. Application of this rapid diagnostic method lo suspected cases with febrile pneumonitis syndrome will increase the detection rate of PCP in Korea.
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