PMID: 2489119Jan 1, 1989Paper

Central nervous system disorders in AIDS

Immunology Series
R M LevyR L Davis

Abstract

AIDS is no longer a rare disease affecting only a small segment of our population. It has now been observed throughout the United States and most other countries in the world. As the current data demonstrate, the effect of AIDS on the nervous system is profound and widespread. About 10% of all AIDS patients will first present with a neurological complaint. Evaluation of this complaint will then lead to the diagnosis of AIDS. Nearly 40% of all AIDS patients will develop major neurological symptoms during their lifetime; these symptoms may be related to primary HIV infection or secondarily to any of a number of opportunistic processes. At autopsy, 75% of AIDS patients will have neuropathological abnormalities. The AIDS-related central neurological syndromes are many and varied, as are their associated signs and symptoms. As with radiologic and serologic examination, the findings resulting from clinical examination of the AIDS patient with neurological illness are nonspecific. While there are clinical findings that are suggestive of one or another class of AIDS-related neurological illness, there is such overlap in their presentations as to make specific CNS diagnosis on the basis of clinical examination virtually impossible. The ...Continue Reading

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