DISSEMINATED BK TYPE POLYOMAVIRUS INFECTION IN AN AIDS PATIENT ASSOCIATED WITH CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM DISEASE

A 27-year-old man with hemophilia type A and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome developed a subacute meningoencephalitis, associated with a normotensive internal hydrocephalus, 14 weeks before his death. From c erebrospinal fluid and brain autopsy material, a virus could be isolat ed and was classified by Southern blot analysis and restriction endonu clease reactions as the human polyomavirus BK. The postmortem findings of polyomavirus antigen and BK virus DNA in various cell types of the kidneys, lungs, and central nervous system strongly suggest that BK v irus was the causative agent of a tubulointerstitial nephropathy, an i nterstitial desquamative pneumonitis, and a subacute meningoencephalit is with accentuation of the ventricular and meningeal surfaces of the brain. Besides distinctive cytopathic effects, the presence of intranu clear inclusions was a prominent histopathological feature. Therefore, the human polyomavirus BK should be regarded as a new candidate on th e still growing list of opportunistic pathogens in acquired immunodefi ciency syndrome.