PATHOLOGIC FEATURES OF AIDS

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

PATHOLOGIC FEATURES OF AIDS

AIDS. Etiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA, eds. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, p. 111-60, 1985.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/86616576
Reichert CM; Kelly VL; Macher AM; Lab. of Pathology, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD

Abstract: The surgical and autopsy features of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) can be divided into three major categories: morphologic manifestations of immunologic impairment; infections, often mixed opportunistic pathogens; and neoplasms (most frequently Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas). The gross, microscopic, and ultrastructural features of both the prodromal illness and the fully developed AIDS are presented. Pathologic features of AIDS are discussed under the following headings: handling of tissues, morphologic manifestations of immunologic impairment (histologic patterns of lymph nodes; immunohistochemistry of lymph nodes; thymus; spleen; bone marrow; lymphoid elements of the gastrointestinal tract; testis; erythrophagocytosis; focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis), electron microscopy in pre-AIDS and AIDS (viral type inclusions; test tube and ring-shaped forms; tubuloreticular inclusions; vesicular rosettes), infections in AIDS (protozoa; fungi; bacteria; viruses), and neoplasms (Kaposi's sarcoma; lymphomas; other malignancies). Although medical personnel have not developed AIDS as a consequence of providing health care, strict handling precautions are appropriate, inasmuch as available evidence points to a transmissible human retrovirus as the etiologic agent. Furthermore, many AIDS patients are likely to be actively shedding 'latent' viruses such as cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, and these patients are likely carriers of hepatitis B, as well as a variety of bacterial, mycobacterial, fungal, protozoal, and other heretofore unidentified viral opportunistic pathogens. Safety precautions recommended in the handling of pathologic specimens are given. (241 Refs)

Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/COMPLICATIONS/*PATHOLOGY Biopsy Bone Marrow/PATHOLOGY Gastrointestinal System/PATHOLOGY Human Inclusion Bodies/ULTRASTRUCTURE Inclusion Bodies, Viral/ULTRASTRUCTURE Lung/PATHOLOGY Lymph Nodes/PATHOLOGY Lymphoma/COMPLICATIONS/PATHOLOGY Male Mycoses/COMPLICATIONS/PATHOLOGY Protozoan Infections/COMPLICATIONS/PATHOLOGY Sarcoma, Kaposi's/COMPLICATIONS/PATHOLOGY Specimen Handling Spleen/PATHOLOGY Virus Diseases/COMPLICATIONS/PATHOLOGY MONOGRAPH

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