Clinical pharmacy
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A 44-year-old man with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) who suffered adverse effects from treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and was then treated with pentamidine isethionate is described, and approved and investigational drugs used in the management of PCP in the AIDS patient are discussed. After taking TMP-SMX, 240 mg trimethoprim and 1200 mg sulfamethoxazole, four times a day orally for 10 days at home, the patient was hospitalized complaining of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. Intravenous TMP-SMX was begun at a dosage of 18 mg/kg/day of trimethoprim. ⋯ Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine tried as prophylaxis produced adverse reactions. Despite its higher incidence of serious adverse effects in the AIDS population, TMP-SMX is considered preferable to pentamidine for initial therapy. Pentamidine is preferred for patients with documented allergy to TMP-SMX or failure to respond to a five- to seven-day course of TMP-SMX.