[Internal and neurologic manifestations of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]

The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is characterized by a multitude of clinical complications consisting of mainly opportunistic infections and malignancies. Particularly often encountered and life-threatening conditions are therefore due to infections of the respiratory tract (pneumonias caused by pneumocystis carinii or cytomegalovirus) or the central nervous system (e.g. toxoplasmosis or cryptococcosis) and Kaposi sarcoma or highly malignant non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The course of the disease can become even more severe by additional neurologic complications. In patients with AIDS, the use of preparations with proven clinical effectivity for the treatment of opportunistic infections is often hampered by severe side effects.