Pneumonia in immunocompromised patients

SUMMARY • The diagnosis and identification of causative microorganisms of pneumonia are often difficult in immunocompromised patients. • Immunosuppression can divided into three categories; neutropenia (or neutrophil dysfunction); humoral immunodeficiency and cellular immunodeficiency. Presumptive pathogen identifications of pneumonia could be made systematically based on the type of impaired immune function. • Since there are a number of diseases that must be differentiated, the collection of respiratory tract specimens and appropriate serum antigen tests should be done whenever possible to identify the causative microorganisms. • Empirical antibiotic therapy should be started as soon as possible. • If initial treatment proves ineffective, invasive diagnostic procedures, including surgical lung biopsy, should be considered.