Multiple Opportunistic Infections and Neoplasms in the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Abstract

The articles by Fischl et al 1 and Burkes et al 2 that appear elsewhere in this issue nicely illustrate the scope of infectious and neoplastic complications found in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Just two patients were reported, but between them they had no fewer than nine different infections and two malignancies, including human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-III) infection, oral candidiasis, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, cytomegalovirus infection, fungal brain infection, Toxoplasma brain abscesses, tuberculosis, cysticercosis, Epstein-Barr virus infection, Kaposi's sarcoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Convincing evidence now exists that the cause of AIDS is a retrovirus, HTLV-III, and that this infection may be associated with a profound and progressive cellular immunodeficiency state. 3 Other data also indicate the possibility of impaired humoral defenses, but in adults, so far, this has led to comparatively few clinical sequelae. 4 Serious opportunistic infections and/or Kaposi's sarcoma dominate what appear to be the later