PATHOLOGICAL LESIONS IN HIV-POSITIVE PATIENTS

Pathomorphological features of 10 HIV positive individuals studied at autopsy and biopsy are described. Nine patients had evidence of neuro- AIDS and eight of them succumbed to various opportunistic infections. One surviving patient underwent a diagnostic lymph node biopsy which r evealed tuberculous lymphadenopathy. Cryptococcal meningitis was the c ommonest CNS opportunistic infection, seen in five cases, with dissemi nated systemic cryptococcosis in two. The other opportunistic infectio ns included toxoplasma encephalitis in two, with acanthamoeba infectio n in one patient. Pulmonary tuberculosis was noted in three patients w hile other bacterial infections such as meningococcal meningitis, pseu domonas septicaemia were observed in three and pneumocystis carinii pn eumonia in one. One seropositive individual was clinically asymptomati c but succumbed to a road traffic accident. The brain in this case sho wed features of HIV associated early leucoencephalopathy. Bacterial in fections caused by organisms other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis ass ociated with BIDS are often underdiagnosed and should be considered, e specially in developing countries. In cases of cryptococcal and tuberc ulous meningitis or multiple parasitic infections, the patients should be screened for associated HIV infection.