[Immunodeficiency tuberculosis: report on 5 autopsy cases].
OBJECTIVE
To improve the awareness of immunodeficiency tuberculosis.


METHODS
5 autopsy cases of immunodeficiency tuberculosis from 1972 to 2000 in two hospitals were reviewed.


RESULTS
The 5 cases were found to have hypoplasia of or damage in the thymus, among them 3 had massive tuberculous lymphadenitis lesions. Multiorgan lesions were found more in both lungs than in other organs, accompanied by lymphatic spread and blood dissemination. The microscopic feature was atypical tuberculosis with great amounts of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Hypoplasia of or damage in the thymus and peripheral lymphoid tissue caused deficiency in the immune response, which resulted in the death of the patients with generalised tuberculosis by blood dissemination and lymphatic spread. The underlying mechanism of immunodeficiency tuberculosis is largely unknown, and further research is needed.
Liu
Lin
L
Wuhan Tuberculosis Hospital, Wuhan 430083, China.
Liu
Guangyao
G
Lu
Jiansheng
J
Zheng
Yanchun
Y
Chen
Hua
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000150:complications*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*