MORPHOLOGICAL AND VIROLOGICAL STUDIES IN 6 AUTOPSIES OF CHILDREN WITHADENOVIRUS PNEUMONIA

Pulmonary lesions compatible with adenovirus infection were detected b y gross and microscopic examination of autopsy tissues from children a ged from 5 to 34 months. Hepatic lesions indicative of systemic infect ion were also found in four of the children. The viral etiology was co nfirmed in three cases by in-situ hybridization, electron-microscopy a nd immunofluorescence performed in parafin-embedded tissues, and in on e case by cell culture isolation of adenovirus type 2 from nasopharyng eal exudate. Routine testing by methods additional to conventional lig ht microscopy would probably have revealed a larger number of adenovir us infections among the 1,103 autopsy records analyzed in this study.