MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE • VOLUME 7, ISSUE 10 88 WORLD FAMILY MEDICINE/MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE VOLUME 15 ISSUE 10, DECEMBER 2017 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION/CLINICAL INVESTIGATION WORLD FAMILY MEDICINE/MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF FAMILY MEDICINE VOLUME 16 ISSUE 1, JANUARY 2018 Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction in Diagnosis of Pneumocystis Pneumonia Mohsen Meidani (1) Azar Baradaran (2) Nooshin Afsharmoghadam (2) Farzin Ghiasi (3) Emad Fayyazi (4) Marzieh Pozveh (2) (1) Department of Infectious Diseases, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. (2) Department of Pathology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. (3) Department of Pulmonology, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. (4) Medical students’ research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Corresponding author: Dr. Marzieh Pozveh Department of Pathology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Tell: +98913 213 3055 Email: m.pozveh@Gmail.com Abstract Introduction: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) remains a serious cause of sickness and death in immunocompromised patients. Lung injury and respiratory impairment during pneumocystis pneumonia are mediated by marked infammatory responses in the host to the organism. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is more sensitive than microscopy for detecting Pj in BAL. The relevant threshold remains to be determined and may vary according to the underlying disease. Methods: All BAL samples were obtained from immunocompromised and non-immunocompro- mised patients presenting with respiratory symp- toms referred to the Department of infectious diseases of Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Chicago, IL, USA) version 22. Results: 2 patients (12%) of immunocom- promised patients were positive for Pj. Among non- immunocompromised patients, 3 (8%) were posi- tive for Pj. Fisher exact test demonstrated that Pj positivity was not signifcantly different between the two groups. The overall frequency of Pj positivity was estimated as 10%. Conclusion: 12% of immunocompromised patients and 8% of non-immunocompromised were colo- nized by Pj which may progress to PJP or contami- nate susceptible individuals. Key words: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction, immunocompromised patients Please cite this article as: Pozveh M. et al. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction in Diagnosis of Pneumocystis Pneumonia. World Family Medicine. 2018; 16(1):88-91 DOI: 10.5742/MEWFM.2018.93203