[Basic principles in the formulation of a postmortem diagnosis in HIV-associated infections]

If a patient dies from HIV-associated disease, after the heading "Underlying disease" the postmortem diagnosis should contain the heading "Secondary diseases" wherein HIV-associated infection is given with the form, site, extent, and activity of the process being indicated. While comparing clinical and postmortem diagnoses in HIV infection, the discrepancy should be specified in view of a secondary disease. If there are a few HIV-associated infections, they all are indicated in the heading "Secondary diseases", one of them, the complications of which are of crucial importance in tanatogenesis, is better chosen to be encoded in the medical death certificate. In some situations, HIV infection can be mixed, competitive, background, or concomitant regardless of its stage.