Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 26, 2023; 11(18): 4425-4432
Published online Jun 26, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i18.4425
Next-generation sequencing technology for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia in an immunocompetent female: A case report
Jing-Ji Huang, Song-Song Zhang, Man-Li Liu, En-Yu Yang, Yu Pan, Jing Wu
Jing-Ji Huang, The Second Clinical Medical College, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou Province, China
Song-Song Zhang, Man-Li Liu, En-Yu Yang, Yu Pan, Jing Wu, Intensive Care Unit, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou Province, China
Author contributions: Huang JJ and Wu J contributed to manuscript writing; Zhang SS and Liu ML contributed to collection of clinical data; Yang EY and Pan Y contributed to data analysis and production of charts; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81860273; the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Projects, No. QKHJC-ZK[2022]-260; the Science and Technology Fund of Guizhou Provincial Health Commission, No. gzwkj2021-320; and Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital National Natural Science Foundation, No. [2018]5764-09.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jing Wu, PhD, Associate Professor, Intensive Care Unit, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, No. 83 Zhongshan East Road, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou Province, China. saidiny1120@qq.com
Received: April 4, 2023
Peer-review started: April 4, 2023
First decision: May 12, 2023
Revised: May 25, 2023
Accepted: May 30, 2023
Article in press: May 30, 2023
Published online: June 26, 2023
Processing time: 83 Days and 15.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Although Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in immunocompetent patients is rare, it should be considered in infected patients with sudden onset of respiratory failure. However, using routine clinical examination, it can be challenging to differentiate between colonizing bacteria and subclinical infections. Instead of traditional laboratory techniques, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to make the diagnosis in the current case report. Early diagnosis and fast treatment helped to avoid ineffective treatments and improve the prognosis. This case emphasized that PCP can arise in immunocompetent patients, and NGS may be an effective test method for the quick and accurate diagnosis of PCP.