Molecular diagnosis of gastrointestinal infections associated with HIV infection

Postmortem Analysis and the Role of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory

The clinical microbiology laboratory frequently receives specimens for culture collected at autopsy. The results generated from these culture requests can either provide valuable information or produce confusion, depending largely on the selection of sites to sample, collection technique, and interpretation of results in the context of data available from patient history and histology. This mini-review is intended to provide guidance to the pathologist in the best use of microbiology testing at autopsy.

Gastrointestinal infections in the immunocompromised host

Gastrointestinal infections are a frequent and important complication of immunodeficiency diseases and immunosuppressive therapy. Such infections may be severe, prolonged, or even fatal, whereas the same infections are typically mild and transient in immunocompetent persons. In this regard, the strong association between HIV-induced immunosuppression and the increased prevalence of severe enteric infections is strong evidence of the link between immune function and defense against enteric pathogens. Because gastrointestinal infections in immunocompromised persons are frequently severe and life-threatening, a vigorous approach to the diagnostic evaluation and therapeutic management is advocated by many clinical investigators. In this review, we summarize the important new developments, particularly during the past year, regarding gastrointestinal infections in immunocompromised persons.