Extrapulmonary Pneumocystis carinii infections

A case of disseminated infection with Pneumocystis carinii is presented, and the English-language literature is reviewed for cases of documented extrapulmonary infection with this organism. In this case--with P. carinii diffusely replacing the bone marrow and causing hepatic, adrenal, and glomerular tuft necrosis--the clinical illness and multiple-organ dysfunction attributed to disseminated P. carinii were more severe than had previously been described. Because the rate of extrapulmonary P. carinii infection found at autopsy in patients with AIDS is at least 2.5% at our institution, we caution against the routine use of aerosol rather than parenteral pentamidine for treatment of P. carinii pneumonia until additional data are available.