Cardiac toxoplasmosis in pathology of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Four cases of myocarditis from toxoplasma gondii were observed at autopsy among 18 consecutive cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). All cases showed spotty inflammatory myocardial infiltration, consisting mainly of T lymphocytes and, to a lesser extent, of B lymphocytes, histiocytes, mastocytes and eosinophilic granulocytes, with presence of toxoplasma gondii in the cytoplasm of a few myocardial cells. The incidence of toxoplasmic myocarditis in heart involvement in AIDS was 22% in our cases, manifold higher than in preceding reports from the literature. This suggests that cardiac toxoplasmosis is far from rare in patients with AIDS.