The effect of measles on the thymus and other lymphoid tissues.

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  • 1 March 1973
    • journal article
    • Vol. 13  (3) , 343-57
Abstract
The histological changes in the thymus and other lymphoid tissues in cases of severe measles resulting in death during the acute phase or at sometime afterwards (from a presumably unrelated cause) have been surveyed and compared with cases of similar age and duration of illnesses other than measles which were admitted to the same infectious diseases hospital. Severe changes of aggregation and formation of large syncytia of thymocytes which progressed to cytoplasmic and nuclear destruction were observed early in the disease (at 4 days). These `giant-cells' failed to show either nuclear or cytoplasmic inclusion bodies. Such cases when seen at a later stage had total loss of thymic cortex. After measles the cortex of the thymus can be absent for at least 2 months. Thus no cortex was discernible in cases of post-measles death at 28 and 64 days; recovery of cortex was seen at 91 and 122 days.