Postmortem findings in HIV/AIDS patients in a tertiary care hospital in rural South Africa
Garcia-Jardon, M.; Bhat, V.G.; Blanco-Blanco, E.; Stepian, A.
Tropical Doctor 40(2): 81-84
2010
ISSN/ISBN: 1758-1133 PMID: 20305099 DOI: 10.1258/td.2010.090465Document Number: 210007
South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS, and various associated infectious and noninfectious conditions contribute towards mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the important post-mortem findings in HIV-infected individuals in a high HIV burden rural area in South Africa. The patient population included HIV patients who died at the tertiary care hospital, from 2000-2008. Autopsies were performed according to standard protocols and diagnoses were made with additional laboratory investigations wherever required. A total of 86 patients were autopsied (30 males, 56 females). The major postmortem findings were related to infections, with 38% of the patients having had some form of tuberculosis, followed by pyogenic infections--pneumonias (21.5%), meningitis (10.1%) and septicemias (5.1%). Other important infections included opportunistic fungi like cryptococcosis (7.6%) and pneumocystis pneumonia (8.9%). Among the noninfectious conditions, the findings seen were predominantly related to liver (10.1%) and cardiac involvement (10.1%).