Title: Intensive Care for Patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and Respiratory Failure Caused by Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia: The View from San Francisco General Hospital
Abstract: Pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii is the most common opportunistic infection in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), occuring in 80 percent of such patients during the course of their illness [1]. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) also is the most common cause of death in AIDS patients, carrying a one-month mortality rate of 20% despite frequently successful therapy with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or parenteral pentamidine [2, 3]. Since most patients who die from PCP do so because of respiratory failure, the question of whether these patients should receive intensive care unit (ICU) admission for endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation comes up commonly. The question also carries immense ethical and economic importance, given that intensive care costs upwards of $ 2,000 per day in the United States and accounts for 10% of the country’s health care budget. We will review the intensive care of AIDS patients with PCP and respiratory failure.
Publication Year: 1990
Publication Date: 1990-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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