Immune System Pathology

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) - defect in cell-mediated immunity due to final stages of HIV infection
• AIDS-related complex (ARC) - early stages of AIDS, mild symptoms include weight loss, fatigue and anorexia
• graft vs host disease - complication of bone marrow transplant, immune cells from donor marrow attach to recipients body
• human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - virus that causes AIDS - retrovirus
• immunocompromised - immune system does not function properly, also known as immunodeficiency disorder
• Kaposi's sarcoma - skin cancer seen in AIDS patients, brownish purple lesions on the skin that spread to organs
• multiple myeloma - cancer that originates in plasma cells - over time malignant cells collect in the bone marrow
• opportunistic infection - infection in immunocompromised person
• pneumocystis pneumonia - opportunistic infection common in AIDS patients
• sarcoidosis - autoimmune disease, forms fibrous lesions in multiple organs of the body
• severe combined immunodeficiency (SCIDS) - a rare genetic disorder that causes the immune system to be completely absent