Neuropathology of the acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

The purpose of this concerted action (CA) is to coordinate the pathological study of lesions of the nervous system in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The CA has promoted several multicentre and multidisciplinary studies of rare cases for research. They include: demonstration of a synergistic action of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) or Papovavirus in HIV encephalitis; neuropathological and virological study of foetuses from HIV infected mothers; neuropathological and virological study of paediatric cases; examination of non AIDS, HIV seropositive cases and clinically nonneurologically involved AIDS patients; morphometric studies of cortical lesions in AIDS; studies on clinicopathological consequences of treatments; study of lesions of spinal cord and sensory ganglia in AIDS patients; study of central nervous system (CNS) lymphomas in AIDS. The CA has further developed 2 reports on the nomenclature, classification, and neuropathology of HIV infection.