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Myelopathies

  • Chapter
The Neuropathology of HIV Infection

Abstract

Spinal cord disease is frequently seen at postmortem examinations of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Anders et al, 1986; Petito et al, 1986). Routine examination of the spinal cord discloses microscopic abnormalities in almost 50 per cent of all AIDS cases, whereas spinal cord abnormalities are only found in approximately 10 per cent of non-AIDS cases (Kamin and Petito, 1991). If this part of the central nervous system (CNS) is examined only when there are clinical symptoms and signs referable to the spinal cord, many lesions may be missed since clinical myelopathy may be absent, not detected in severely-ill patients, or inseparable from symptoms due to disease elsewhere in the peripheral or central nervous systems. The frequency and distribution of CNS diseases in AIDS necessitates increased numbers of sections submitted for routine microscopic examination of the spinal cord. We therefore submit sections at two thoracic and one lumbosacral levels and additional sections are obtained as indicated.

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Authors
  1. C. K. Petito
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neurology, The National Hospital, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG, London, UK

    Francesco Scaravilli MD, PhD, FRCPath (Reader in Neuropathology) (Reader in Neuropathology)

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Petito, C.K. (1993). Myelopathies. In: Scaravilli, F. (eds) The Neuropathology of HIV Infection. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1957-9_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1957-9_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1959-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1957-9

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