Chronological Observation of an AIDS Patient from Onset to Death and Post-mortem Autopsy Study

ABSTRACT

The ‘32-year-old sailor’ patient was a native Korean male, infected with HIV through heterosexual contacts in the high risk areas of foreign country, mostly during. 1984 to 1986. During the following 6-months until his death, the skin nodules suggesting Kaposi's sarcoma, and penile ulcers like chancroid were gradually disappeared. Several skin diseases such as condyloma accuminatum, generalized xeiosis of the skin, acquired icthyosis, seborfheic dermatitis, diffuse hair loss and alopecia developed. His health gradually deteriorated with general symptom such as weakness, weight loss, remAtmt mild fever cough with sputum, and dyspnea with frequent pneumonia signs. The tongue became coated white and thick in which candida albicans was detected, and sore throat and dysphagia accompanied. The patients expired suddenly with acute respiratory distress syndrome, which was may be caused by a opportunistic infection of Pneumocystis carinii. In post-mortem autopsy studies, most of the lung tissue showed the findings of severe interstitial pneumonia and hyaline membrane formation, and pneumocystis cadnii and candida albicans were found in histopathological or micorbiological examination. As other infections, add fast bacilli suggesting Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare were found out in the lymph node, spleen, liver. Cytomegalovirus infection was found on the adrenal gland by histopathological examination. And various lymphoid tissue of the lymph node, spleen, thymus, respiratory tract, gastomtestinal tracts showed severe lymphoid depletion with fibrosis. The other findings had multiple glial nodules in the cerebral white matter and focal segmental glomerulosderosm There wasr t any evidence of Kaposi's sarcoma.