Figure 1.

Diagnosis of Pneumocystis in infant biopsy specimens requires sensitive techniques applied to homogenized tissue: Percentage of Pneumocystis detection as relative to nested polymerase chain reaction (n-PCR), of immunofluorescence microscopy (IF), and single-round PCR in homogenized lung tissue specimens of 36 infants. Results of microscopy readings using rapid Giemsa (Diff-Quick) and Gomori-Grocott methenamine silver (GMS) stains in imprints of cruent-cut-surface lung tissue adjacent to the sections analyzed by n-PCR and IF are also presented. Abbreviations: IF, immunofluorescence microscopy; GMS, Gomori-Grocott methenamine silver; n-PCR, nested polymerase chain reaction; PCR, polymerase chain reaction.