EXTRAPULMONARY DISSEMINATED PNEUMOCYSTOSIS IN HIV-INFECTION

Three cases of extrapulmonary disseminated Pneumocystis carinii infection are reported. All 3 patients had HIV infection with less than 50 CD4 lymphocytes per cubic millimeter and were having aerosols of pentamidine as prophylactic treatment of pneumocystosis. P. carinii may invade numerous organs and in particular the liver, spleen and bone marrow. Extrapulmonary lesions, often pansymptomatic, are to be feared in deeply immunodepressed patients receiving prophylactic aerosols of pentamidine. Infection of the choroid can be detected by systematic ophthalmoscopy. An early diagnosis raises hopes of a good, if temporary, response to treatment.