Pseudomonas aeruginosa bronchopulmonary infection in patients with AIDS, with emphasis on relapsing infection

The aim of this study was to delineate the clinical and therapeutic characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bronchopulmonary infection in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. Eighteen AIDS patients had 39 episodes of P. aeruginosa bronchopulmonary infection. Their mean CD4 cell count was 0.012+/-0.011 cells x 10(9) x L(-1) and two episodes (5.1%) occurred in neutropenic patients. Ten patients (55.5%) had 21 outbreaks of pseudomonal infection. Relapses were more frequent in patients with chronic bronchitis (80 versus 0%, p=0.03) and in those who received initial oral antibiotic therapy (100 versus 55.6%, p=0.25). Three patients died, but death was directly related to pseudomonal infection in only one patient. In a case-control study, patients with bronchopulmonary P. aeruginosa infection had a survival comparable to patients in the control group. Immunoglobulin prophylaxis was administered to three patients with relapses, without success. The two patients who had P. aeruginosa eradicated were those who began triple antiretroviral therapy and had a CD4 cell increase >0.150 cells x 10(9) x L(-1). Relapsing Pseudomonas aeruginosa bronchopulmonary infection affects patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus infection, prior underlying lung disease, chronic bronchitis and initial oral antibiotic therapy. Immune reconstitution through triple antiretroviral therapy succeeded in eradicating Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infection in two patients.