title: The acute abdomen in individuals with AIDS.
abstract: Both AIDS-related infections and neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract may be manifest by a clinical picture of acute abdominal disease. Severe abdominal pain may be seen in this population even in the absence of true surgical complications such as perforation, abscess formation, or obstruction. Localizing signs and symptoms are frequently misleading due to underlying immunosuppression, debilitation, and prior or current antibiotic use. CT assumes a critical role in evaluation of the symptomatic AIDS patient, providing evaluation of the entire abdomen and pelvis including lymph nodes, solid viscera, and the bowel itself. CT is thus the modality of choice for characterization of AIDS-related abdominal disease and for direction of appropriate therapy.
authors.affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Fishman
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004067:Digestive System Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D016483:Lymphoma, AIDS-Related / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed