Comparison of different microbiological procedures for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia on bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid

Table 1 Comparison of microscopic, end-point PCR, RT-PCR, and β-D-glucan assays between PCP-patients and negative controls

Patients with suspected PCP	P. jirovecii detection by:
Patients with suspected PCP	Methenamine-silver staining microscopy	Unyvero-HPN end-point PCR^a	Sacace-P. jirovecii Real-TM PCR (Ct)^b	β-D-glucan assay (pg/mL)^c
1	+	+ + +	+ (20)	621
2	-	-	+ (28)	> 1000
3	+	+ + +	+ (21)	879
4	+	+ + +	+ (21)	960
5	+	+ + +	+ (22)	> 1000
6	-	-	-	> 1000
7	-	-	-	> 1000
8	-	-	-	> 1000
9	-	-	-	> 1000
10	+	+ + +	+ (26)	> 1000
11	+	+ + +	+ (24)	> 1000
12	-	-	-	> 1000
13	+	+ + +	+ (18)	591
14	-	+	+ (30)	118
15	-	-	-	> 1000
16	-	-	-	837
17	+	+ + +	+ (19)	255
18	+	+ + +	+ (19)	< 10
Total	9 (50%)	10 (55.6%)	11 (61.0%)	15 (83.3%)
Negative control patients
19	-	-	-	309
20	-	-	-	< 10
21	-	-	-	115
22	-	-	-	< 10

^a + weakly, + + moderately, + + + intensely positive samples
^b(Ct) stands for threshold cycle value
^cResults were < 400 pg/mL = negative; 400–450 pg/mL = indeterminate; > 450 pg/mL = positive

ISSN: 1471-2180