Polymerase Chain Reaction on Respiratory Tract Specimens of Immunocompromised Patients to Diagnose Pneumocystis Pneumonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Lottie BrownRiina Rautemaa-RichardsonCarlo MengoliAlexandra SerrisRosemary A BarnesStéphane BretagneSharon C A ChenCatherine CordonnierJ Peter DonnellyWerner J HeinzBrian JonesLena KlingsporJuergen LoefflerThomas R RogersEleanor RowbothamPhilip Lewis WhiteMario CrucianiPublished in: Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2024)
On deeper respiratory tract specimens, PCR negativity can be used to confidently exclude PCP, but PCR positivity will likely require clinical interpretation to distinguish between colonization and active infection, partially dependent on the strength of the PCR signal (indicative of fungal burden), the specimen type, and patient population tested.