Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was microscopic diagnostics of infections and neoplasms in patients who died of AIDS.
Material/Methods: Post-mortem analyses were performed in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw. In total, 200 patients with AIDS who were treated and subsequently died were included in the analysis. The study group consisted of 175 men and 25 women. Patients' age ranged between 11 months and 64 years (mean age 43 years).
Results: The most frequent infection diagnosed in these subjects was cytomegalovirus, followed by bacterial, mycotic, tuberculotic infections and toxoplasmosis. As far as neoplasms are concerned, patients with AIDS suffered most frequently from malignant lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma and finally, from Hodgkin's disease. In most cases, many types of infections coexisted with one another or there was a co-occurrence of the infection and neoplasm.
Conclusions: The author suggests that the material presented in this paper is representative for Polish population. Pulmonary changes is the most often cause of the death of the patients with AIDS.

Keywords: AIDS, infections, Neoplasms