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Table 2 Premorbid immunosuppression, chemotherapy and corticosteroid exposure among 297 patients with positive PCR for P. jirovecii

From: Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of immunocompromised patients infected with Pneumocystis jirovecii in a twelve-year retrospective study from Norway

Immunosuppression/chemotherapy regimens at presentation, n (%)

 Chemotherapy for hematological malignancy with adjuvant corticosteroids

67 (22.6)

 Corticosteroids in monotherapy

44 (14.8)

 Graft rejection prophylaxis after solid organ transplantation

36 (12.1)

 Chemotherapy for solid malignancy with adjuvant corticosteroids

33 (11.1)

 DMARDs with adjuvant corticosteroids

22 (7.4)

 Chemotherapy for solid malignancy

16 (5.4)

 Chemotherapy for hematological malignancy

12 (4.0)

 Corticosteroids and other immunosuppressantsa

8 (2.7)

 DMARDs in monotherapy

5 (1.7)

 Prophylaxis or treatment for GVHD after allogenic stem cell transplantation

3 (1.0)

 Other combinationsb

2 (0.7)

 None

49 (16.5)

Systemic corticosteroid exposure last 60 days prior to presentation, n (%)

 Daily

125 (42.1)

 Intermittent

91 (30.6)

 No exposure to systemic corticosteroids

79 (26.6)

 No information

2 (0.7)

Corticosteroid daily dosage in mg methylprednisolone at presentation, n = 292

 Median the day of P. jirovecii detection (q1-q3), n = 146

8 (4–20)

 Minimum, maximum

0,120

Indications for corticosteroid administration among exposedc, n (%)

 Immunosuppression for immunological disorders or graft rejection prophylaxis

99 (46.3)

 Chemotherapy

75 (35.0)

 Anti-emesis and other oncological indicationsd

51 (23.8)

 Peritumoral oedema in primary and secondary intracranial tumors

16 (7.5)

 Hematological and solid malignancies complicated by AIHA or ITP

9 (4.2)

  1. Abbreviations: AIHA autoimmune hemolytic anemia, DMARDs disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, GVHD graft-versus-host disease, ITP immune thrombocytopenic purpura
  2. aOther immunosuppressants include mycophenolate, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, calcineurin- and mTOR-inhibitors, cyclosporine and hydroxychloroquine
  3. bOther combinations of immunosuppressive regimens include one patient receiving graft rejection prophylaxis for solid organ transplantation in combination with chemotherapy for hematological malignancy with adjuvant corticosteroids and one patient receiving azathioprine for vasculitis, respectively
  4. c214 patients (72.1%) had known exposure to systemic corticosteroids last 60 days prior to presentation, and proportions are expressed with 214 as denominator. In some cases, corticosteroids were prescribed for more than one indication
  5. dOther oncological indications include peritumoral oedema for patients with extracranial tumors, corticosteroids in combination with radiotherapy, vena cava superior syndrome, medulla compression etc.