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There is a paucity of HIV autopsy data from South America and none that document the postmortem findings in patients with HIV/AIDS in Peru. Objectives: The purpose of this autopsy study was to determine the spectrum of opportunistic infections and the causes of mortality in HIV-positive patients at a public hospital in Lima. Material and methods: Clinico-epidemiological information regarding HIV infection in Peru is also reviewed. Sixteen HIV-related hospital postmortems, performed between 1999-2004, were included in this retrospective analysis. Results: The primary cause of death was established in 12 patients: one died of neoplasia and 11 of infectious diseases, including 3 from pulmonary infection, 7 from disseminated infection, and 2 from central nervous system infection (one case had dual pathology). Opportunistic infections were identified in 14 cases, comprising cytomegalovirus, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, toxoplasmosis, Pneumocystis pneumonia, aspergillosis, tuberculosis, varicella zoster virus and cryptosporidiosis. Fourteen patients had at least one AIDS-related disease that had been neither clinically suspected nor diagnosed premortem. Moreover, 82% of the diagnoses deemed of important clinical significance, had not been suspected antemortem. Conclusions: The spectrum and frequency of certain opportunistic infections differed from other South American autopsy studies, highlighting the importance of performing HIV/AIDS postmortems in resource-limited countries where locally-specific disease patterns may be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T-cell regulatory lymphocytes (T reg) are identified by their reactivity with CD4, CD25, and FOXP3, and are variably present in the background of various neoplasms including hematopoietic tumors, and function modulating the immune response, including control of autoimmunity. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma is an aggressive lymphoma associated with human T-lymphotrophic virus 1 infection characterized by the presence of neoplastic lymphocytes with a T reg phenotype; however, this phenotype is not characteristically found in other lymphomas. Here, we report 2 apparently immunocompetent human T-lymphotrophic virus 1-negative patients with nodal and extranodal peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified with a T reg immunophenotype, based on the strong CD25 and FOXP3 positivity of the neoplastic cells. One patient was a 48-year-old woman with an early stage tumor in the cavum, who despite of chemotherapy subsequently developed systemic disease and died of tumor progression 46 months from diagnosis. The second patient was a 65-year-old male with generalized adenopathy and B symptoms who received chemotherapy achieving a complete remission but had recurrence and died 36 months from diagnosis. The histopathology revealed a diffuse infiltrate with an interfollicular distribution in the second case, with nodal involvement, consisted of large cells with clear cytoplasm associated with vascular proliferation and abundant mitoses. Neoplastic cells of first case showed typical T reg phenotype, whereas the second case had a CD4/CD8 double negative T reg variant. Only a single similar case was found in a review of the literature. We conclude that peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified with a T reg phenotype may represent a distinct category of T-cell lymphoma with an aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis.

EBV-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the elderly is an entity recently included in the WHO classification of lymphoid tumors. We have reviewed our experience and clinical outcomes of this distinct subtype of DLBCL. Between 2002 and 2009, cases of DLBCL were identified from medical records of the Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliati Martins in Lima, Peru, and underwent pathological evaluation including immunohistochemistry for CD20, CD10, bcl-6, MUM1/IRF4, and EBV-encoded RNA in situ hybridization. Clinical data were gathered, tabulated, and reported descriptively. Survival analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier estimates. Out of 199 cases of DLBCL, 28 cases of EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly were identified. The median age was 75 years with male predominance (1.5:1). B-symptoms were present in 43%, advanced stage in 50% and International Prognostic Index (IPI) score > 2 in 57% of patients; 68% of patients had a nongerminal center (NGC) phenotype. The complete response rates to R-CHOP and CHOP were 63% and 33%, respectively. The median overall survival (OS) for the group was 5 months. In the univariate analysis, age ≥70 years, lymphocyte count <1.0 × 10(9) /L, and advanced clinical stage were associated with worse OS in patients treated with chemotherapy with and without rituximab. EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly is a clinically aggressive entity with a short OS and typically presents with advanced stage, high IPI score, and a NGC phenotype. Further studies are needed to investigate if rituximab-containing regimens are associated with better response and OS rates in EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) has been classified in four clinical variants (classic or Mediterranean; endemic or African; epidemic or AIDS-related; iatrogenic or immunosuppression-related). Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), has been found in all these variants. We herein discuss the unusual presentation of a 53-year-old indigenous patient with purplish-brown nodular lesions on lower extremities, and miliary tuberculosis. ELISA-HIV tests were negative and immunohistochemistry (IHC) of the tumor tissue was positive for HHV-8. This is the first reported case in which the presence of HHV-8 was evidenced by means of IHC techniques in Peru. We also review all available Peruvian literature of classic KS, a disease that has been frequently reported in indigenous population of Peru since 1968, making this country a possible endemic zone of classic KS.

There is a paucity of HIV autopsy data from South America and none that document the postmortem findings in patients with HIV/AIDS in Peru. The purpose of this autopsy study was to determine the spectrum of opportunistic infections and the causes of mortality in HIV-positive patients at a public hospital in Lima. Clinico-epidemiological information regarding HIV infection in Peru is also reviewed. Sixteen HIV-related hospital postmortems, performed between 1999 and 2004, were included in this retrospective analysis. The primary cause of death was established in 12 patients: one died of neoplasia and 11 of infectious diseases, including 3 from pulmonary infection, 7 from disseminated infection, and 2 from central nervous system infection (one case had dual pathology). Opportunistic infections were identified in 14 cases, comprising cytomegalovirus, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, toxoplasmosis, Pneumocystis pneumonia, aspergillosis, tuberculosis, varicella zoster virus, and cryptosporidiosis. Fourteen patients had at least one AIDS-related disease that had been neither clinically suspected nor diagnosed premortem. Moreover, 82% of the diagnoses considered to be of important clinical significance had not been suspected antemortem. The spectrum and frequency of certain opportunistic infections differed from other South American autopsy studies, highlighting the importance of performing HIV/AIDS postmortems in resource-limited countries where locally specific disease patterns may be observed.