Diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia

A diagnosis of PneumocysHs carinii pneumonia was made in seven patients by the technique of transbronchoscopic lung biopsy. In this technique, flexible forceps are inserted through a rigid broncbosrrope. No false wgathre re& were obtained, that is, no other cases of pneumocysHs pneumonia were discovered by any additional technique, including autopsy, among a group of 525 patients with difiuse pulmonary diseases who had tranabronchoscopic lung biopsy. Transbronchoscopic lung biopsy is an effective and accurate method of obtaining pulmonary tissue that is suitable for the demonstration of P carinii, especially in patients who are too ill to withstand open lung biopsy.