title: Neuropathology of myelitis, myelopathy, and spinal infections in AIDS.
abstract: In AIDS, pathology in the spinal contents usually follows that in the brain but is less frequent. Opportunistic infections are found in an average of 9.5% of spinal AIDS autopsies but in 54% of autopsies of the whole CNS. Necrotizing CMV radiculomyelitis is a rare (3.4% in spinal autopsies) but very characteristic opportunistic spinal lesion. The most prominent spinal cord disease in AIDS is vacuolar myelopathy, occurring in greatly differing frequencies according to different geographical areas, with a mean of about 22.5% in AIDS spinal cord autopsies. Its pathogenesis and clinicopathologic correlation need clarification; it appears to develop mainly in severely ill AIDS patients with significant viral load, advanced immunosuppression, and confounding metabolic imbalance.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Department of Neuropathology and Neurochemistry, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budka
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000473:pathology; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D018450:Disease Progression; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D009181:Mycoses / Q000473:pathology; D009187:Myelitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D009336:Necrosis; D011843:Radiculopathy / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000473:pathology; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014766:Viremia / Q000821:virology