[Fatal visceral leishmaniasis associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: report of a case with necropsy findings and immunohistochemical study].

A case of fatal visceral leishmaniasis associated with immunodeficiency syndrome in a 32 year-old male patient is reported. The protozoonosis was responsible for the patient's death. Visceral leishmaniasis showed itself in an atypical form, at necropsy, with an intense parasitation of the mononuclear phagocitic system and damaging organs not usually affected by the disease, such as the adrenals, the kidneys, the lungs and the brain. Parasitised cells were observed within small vessels in several tissues. An immunohistochemical study was done on samples from the spleen, lymph nodes and brain, showing strong reactivity with antibody directed against leishmania.