outpatient management of HIV related pneumonia

Introduction

Criteria:

• mild disease with paO2 on room air > 70 mm Hg
• no severe exercise intolerance
• no history suggestive of rapid deterioration
• chest X-ray typical of uncomplicated Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), i.e. bilateral interstitial infiltrates
• patient should NOT be receiving trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) PCP prophylaxis; development of disease with TMP/SMX prophylaxis suggests disease other than PCP
• patient should be able to tolerate oral medication
• patient should NOT have unusual history or epidemiologic features that make an empiric approach unwise; i.e., patients should NOT have features associated with risk of:
  • tuberculosis
  • coccidioidomycosis
  • histoplasmosis

Additional terms

• community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)
• Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP)