Long-term survival of patients with AIDS, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and respiratory failure.

OBJECTIVE

--To evaluate the long-term survival of patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Ill, with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.

DESIGN

--Cohort study over a 4-year period.

SETTING

--Municipal teaching hospital.

PATIENTS: --Seventy-three consecutive patients who had 75 episodes of P carinii pneumonia and acute respiratory failure were followed up from the time of hospital admission until their deaths or the termination of the study.

OUTCOME MEASURES: --Duration of survival from the time of initial hospital admission with diagnoses of P carinii pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.

RESULTS

--Consistent with recent reports of improved short-term outcome, the immediate hospital survival was 47% (35/75). The 1-year survival was 37% (95% confidence interval, 26% to 49%). Two patients have survived for 40 months. Almost three quarters of the patients who survived hospitalization lived for at least 1 year.

CONCLUSIONS

--The long-term prognosis for patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, P carinii pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure is now substantially better than anticipated. Respiratory failure due to P carinii pneumonia does not necessarily signify the terminal phase of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Accordingly, patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, P carinii pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure can be appropriate candidates for life support in medical intensive care units.