Table 3.

Clinical characteristics of four patients with negative BAL staining and positive NPA PCR for Pneumocystis

Patient no.	Sexh/age (yr)	Underlying disease	Pulmonary radiological appearance	Lymphocyte count (× 109 cells/liter)	Anti-Pneumocystis treatment	Pneumocystis load (copies/ml)
1	F/52	Systemic lupus erythematosus/scleroderma	Patchy ground glass densities and tiny lung nodules at bilateral upper lobesa	0.53	Nild	4.68 × 104
2	M/63	Immunoblastic T cell lymphoma, receiving chemotherapy	Bilateral symmetrical airspace opacities, particularly at the lower zonesb	0.83	Given cotrimoxazole with clinical improvemente	8.88 × 104
3	F/13	Juvenile dermatomyositis	Bilateral symmetrical airspace and reticular opacities, predominantly involving perihilar and lower zonesb	0.88	Given cotrimoxazole with clinical improvementf	1.08 × 105
4	F/54	Lung adenocarcinoma with metastasis to brain, hypertension	Multifocal bilateral patchy consolidation with upper zone predominancec	0.60	Nilg	3.59 × 104

^aPositron emission tomography/computed tomography.

^bChest radiograph.

^cComputed tomography.

^dClinically improved after receiving empirical tuberculosis treatment for suspected pulmonary tuberculosis.

^eReceived imipenem-cilastatin and ticarcillin-clavulanate before cotrimoxazole therapy.

^fReceived amoxicillin-clavulanate and azithromycin before cotrimoxazole therapy.

^gClinically improved after receiving piperacillin-tazobactam and doxycycline for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia.

^hF, female; M, male.