Chest Email Content Delivery
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wehner, J. H.
Right arrow Articles by Campagna, A. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wehner, J. H.
Right arrow Articles by Campagna, A. C.

Chest, Vol 105, 1770-1774, Copyright © 1994 by American College of Chest Physicians

ARTICLES

Controlled utilization of induced sputum analysis in the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

JH Wehner, WA Jensen, CM Kirsch, FT Kagawa and AC Campagna
Stanford University School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Calif.

We investigated the outcome and potential cost savings of a system designed to limit physician access to induced sputum analysis (ISA) for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). Four respiratory medicine physicians screened all requests for ISA to determine the pretest likelihood of PCP. Twenty-two of 102 requests for ISA over a 1- year period were denied due to a low clinical suspicion for PCP. Seven individuals had a definitive alternative diagnosis confirmed and the remaining 15 were empirically treated for a presumptive diagnosis. All individuals were followed for at least 60 days or until death. None of the 22 individuals developed PCP during the follow-up period. We estimate that this approach saved $27,474, avoided exposure of health care workers to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and was educational for the referring physicians.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Respir JHome page
D. Turner, Y. Schwarz, and I. Yust
Induced sputum for diagnosing Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV patients: new data, new issues
Eur. Respir. J., February 1, 2003; 21(2): 204 - 208.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1994 by the American College of Chest Physicians.