In a patient with AIDS, severe cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection dominated with gastro-intestinal and retinal involvement. The gastro-intestinal signs--diarrhoea and recurrent vomiting--correlated with the destruction of the tunica muscularis of the digestive tract seen at post-mortem. The CMV retinitis caused an almost complete loss of sight, the consequence of extensive destruction of the retina. In addition to the generalized CMV infection and disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma, which also involved the gastro-intestinal tract and caused discrete histopathological changes, post-mortem examination revealed a malignant lymphoma of the brain.