Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine

Original Article

Immunocytochemical Detection of Pneumocystis Carinii in Bronchoalveolar Lavage .: Kun Young Kwon, Seung Che Cho, Sang Pyo Kim, Kwan Kyu Park, Eun Sook Chang, Chung Sook Kim; Korean J Cytopathol. 1997;8(1):27-34.

Abstract PDF: Pneumocystis carinii is an established cause of pulmonary infections in immuno- compromised hosts. Several cytological stains, such as Papanicolaou, Gomori methenamine silver(GMS) and Diff-Quik have been used for detection of the organism, but occasionally can be laborious and, due to a degree of nonspecificity, may be misleading. We evaluated the diagnostic utility of immunocytochemical stains that recognize P. carinii in bronchoalveolar lavage from experimentally induced P. carinii pneumonia rats(n=15). In addition to routine stains for diagnosis by morphologic recognition of P. carinii on Papanicolaou, GMS and Diff-Quik stains, bronchoalveolar lavage samples were reacted with immunocytochemical stains using monoclonal antibodies(MAB) 092 and 902. In bronchoalveolar lavage P. carinii organisms were detected in 9 of 10 cases (90%) using each MAB 092 and 902, whereas GMS and Diff-Quik stains demonstrated P. carinii in 13(86%) and 11(73%) of 15 cases respectively. In lung tissue specimens(n=15) P. carinii organisms were well identified on GMS stain and immunohistochemical stains using MAB 092 and 902 in all cases. We believe that the immunocytochemical staining using MAB 092 and/or 902 is a very useful and diagnostic tool in addition to GMS and Diff-Quik stain to detect P. carinii organisms in bronchoalveolar lavage.

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