Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, a complication of cardiothoracic surgery

We identified 13 patients who contracted acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or human immunodeficiency virus-related disease after a cardiothoracic operation. The operations were performed between January 1981 and November 1984, and the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus-related disease was established from 26 to 54 months after operation. The survival time from diagnosis ranged from 8 days to 14 months in the 10 patients who have died. A clinical illness developed in three of the patients immediately postoperatively that was consistent with primary human immunodeficiency virus mononucleosis. The clinical features included a wide variety of opportunistic infections, but an abnormally high percentage of the patients first showed symptoms of dementia or neoplastic disease. In many patients, the diagnosis was not suspected for a prolonged period of time. On the basis of the prolonged incubation period, the incidence of this disease is likely to increase for several more years.