Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Jul;42(7):3333-5.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.42.7.3333-3335.2004.

Detection of Pneumocystis jiroveci in respiratory specimens by four staining methods

G W Procop  1 , S Haddad, J Quinn, M L Wilson, N G Henshaw, L B Reller, R L Artymyshyn, M T Katanik, M P Weinstein
Affiliations

Detection of Pneumocystis jiroveci in respiratory specimens by four staining methods

G W Procop et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2004 Jul.

Abstract

We examined four staining methods on replicate smears of 313 respiratory specimens submitted for Pneumocystis jiroveci examination. The sensitivity and specificity of Calcofluor white stain (CW) were 73.8 and 99.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Grocott-Gomori methenamine silver stain (GMS) were 79.4 and 99.2%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Diff-Quik stain were 49.2 and 99.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Merifluor Pneumocystis stain were 90.8 and 81.9%, respectively. Only CW and GMS had positive and negative predictive values of >90%.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Armbruster, C., L. Pokieser, and A. Hassl. 1995. Diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia by bronchoalveolar lavage in AIDS patients. Comparison of Diff-Quik, fungifluor stain, direct immunofluorescence test and polymerase chain reaction. Acta Cytol. 39:1089-1093. - PubMed
    1. Baughman, R. P., S. S. Strohofer, B. A. Clinton, A. D. Nikol, and P. T. Frame. 1989. The use of an indirect fluorescent antibody test for detecting Pneumocystis carinii. Arch. Pathol. Lab. Med. 113:1062-1065. - PubMed
    1. Chen, C. S., M. Boeckh, K. Seidel, J. G. Clark, E. Kansu, D. K. Madtes, J. L. Wagner, R. P. Witherspoon, C. Anasetti, F. R. Appelbaum, W. I. Bensinger, H. J. Deeg, P. J. Martin, J. E. Sanders, R. Storb, J. Storek, J. Wade, M. Siadak, M. E. Flowers, and K. M. Sullivan. 2003. Incidence, risk factors, and mortality from pneumonia developing late after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 32:515-522. - PubMed
    1. Contini, C., M. P. Villa, R. Romani, R. Merolla, S. Delia, and R. Ronchetti. 1998. Detection of Pneumocystis carinii among children with chronic respiratory disorders in the absence of HIV infection and immunodeficiency. J. Med. Microbiol. 47:329-333. - PubMed
    1. Fraire, A. E., B. Kemp, S. D. Greenberg, H. S. Kim, R. Estrada, and R. A. McBride. 1996. Calcofluor white stain for the detection of Pneumocystis carinii in transbronchial lung biopsy specimens: a study of 68 cases. Mod. Pathol. 9:861-864. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources