| pubmed-article:2582555 | pubmed:abstractText | 30 cases of autopsies of patients who died after human renal allografts were studied. The incidence of infection was 60% and the lethal infectious complications amounted to 43%. The most common infectious agents were bacteria, including mycobacterium tuberculosis. In addition, some opportunistic agents, such as Cryptococcus, Aspergillus, mucormycosis, Pneumocystis carinii and cytomegalovirus were also found. All these patients had a history of receiving large dosage of immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, prednisone and dexamethasone after renal allografts. Pathological changes showed marked atrophy of lymphoid tissue and it was compatible with the histologic appearance of immunodeficiency. It is concluded that overuse of immunosuppressive drugs impairs the function of the immune system causing acquired immunodeficiency. Pathological features of lesions caused by the aforementioned infectious agents are also described in this paper. | lld:pubmed |
