Necrotizing vasculitis of the nervous system in a patient with AIDS-related complex.
A patient with AIDS-related complex (ARC) presented with a fulminant neurologic syndrome suggestive of ascending myelopathy, and died approximately 48 h after admission to hospital. At necropsy, there was evidence of a severe necrotizing vasculitis affecting the nervous system most severely, with multifocal haemorrhagic necroses of the spinal cord and cauda equina. Although a rare intranuclear inclusion suggestive of herpesvirus infection was seen in the predominantly lympho-histiocytic infiltrate in and around blood vessel walls, the precise aetiology of the angiitis was not apparent. It may represent a response to AIDS virus infection of one or more components of the blood vessel wall.
Vinters
H V
HV
Department of Pathology, UCLA Medical Center 90024-1732.
Guerra
W F
WF
Eppolito
L
L
Keith
P E
PE
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology