outpatient management of HIV related pneumonia

Criteria: 1) mild disease with paO₂ on room air > 70 mm Hg 2) no severe exercise intolerance 3) no history suggestive of rapid deterioration 4) chest X-ray typical of uncomplicated Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), i.e. bilateral interstitial infiltrates 5) patient should NOT be receiving trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) PCP prophylaxis; development of disease with TMP/SMX prophylaxis suggests disease other than PCP 6) patient should be able to tolerate oral medication 7) 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: a) tuberculosis b) coccidioidomycosis c) histoplasmosis

Related

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

References

Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 11, American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 1998