A special thank you to Dr. Polesky, Dr. Young, and Dr. Roosevelt for joining us at Morning Report today.

Teaching Pearls: 

• For needlestick injuries, post-exposure HIV prophylaxis entails a 28 day course of Truvada and an integrase inhibitor (Raltegravir or Dolutegravir). See PEP Guidelines.
• AIDS is defined as a CD4<200 or presence of an AIDS-defining illness.
• PCP in an AIDS patient is a medical emergency with high mortality if left untreated! Make sure to get an ABG and CT Chest. Hypoxemia is an important distinguishing feature of PCP Pneumonia. Significant lymphadenopathy on CT is not commonly seen with PCP pneumonia and may push you towards TB or other etiologies.
• When PCP pneumonia is clinically suspected, start treatment right away. Make sure to get input from Pulmonology and Infectious Diseases.
• CXR findings can be normal in a patient with PCP.
• LDH is a sensitive but not specific test for PCP. Beta-D-Glucan can be helpful but again is not specific to PCP and can take a long time to result.
• Treatment of PCP with Bactrim can cause rapid destruction of the PCP organism and lead to widespread inflammation cause respiratory failure. Steroids are indicated when the A-a Gradient is > 35 mmHg or the PaO2 < 70 mmHg.
• Once you start treatment for PCP, make sure to closely monitor their respiratory status closely as patients can clinically worsen before improving.