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Presentation and course of AIDS dementia complex
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1993
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Neurological DisorderNeuropsychological AbnormalitiesClinical NeurologyAlzheimer's DiseaseNeurobiology Of DiseaseMedical HistoryAids Dementia ComplexNeurologyNeuropathologyNeuroimmunologyHealth SciencesNeurovirologyChronic Viral InfectionHivNeurological AssessmentAids PathogenesisSexual HealthTreatment And PreventionDementiaHiv InfectionFrontotemporal DementiaMedicineLewy Body Dementia
Objective To assess the clinical presentation and course of the AIDS dementia complex (ADC). Design Retrospective study of a consecutive series of symptomatic HIV-1 -infected patients [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stages IVA, B, C and D] evaluated for neurological symptoms between 1982 and 1992. Setting An academic referral centre for AIDS. Patients A total of 536 symptomatic HIV-1-infected patients evaluated for neurological symptoms between 1982 and 1992. Interventions Zidovudine treatment, which was introduced in The Netherlands on 1 May 1987 for patients with severe symptoms of HIV infection (CDC stages IVA, B, C and D). Main outcome measures Diagnosis of ADC and CD4 cell count, clinical features, neuropsychological abnormalities, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings and course in patients with ADC. Results ADC was diagnosed in 40 out of 536 (7.5%) immunosuppressed, neuroiogically symptomatic HIV-1-infected patients in CDC stage IV, and was the AIDS-defining illness in six. The mean CD4 cell count of the 40 patients with ADC was 109 χ 106/1. Neuropsychological abnormalities in 15 out of 17 patients tested were in accordance with subcortical dementia. On CT scan of the brain, 70% showed no or only mild cortical atrophy. MRI was more sensitive than CT scan for detecting white matter abnormalities (73 versus 35%; P = 0.02). CSF examination showed mononuclear pleocytosis in 25%, protein level increase in 55%, and HIV-1 p24 core protein in 38% (13 out of 34). The mean survival was 6.7 months in the 40 ADC patients, but 4 months in 20 patients who had never used zidovudine, compared with 14.8 months in 10 patients who started zidovudine after they were classified as having ADC (P < 0.001). Three of these 10 patients improved remarkably, and two slightly, after starting zidovudine. ADC developed after discontinuation of zidovudine in nine patients. Only one patient developed ADC while receiving 600 mg zidovudine. Conclusions MRI is more sensitive than CT for detecting white matter abnormalities. To date, there is no specific or sensitive CSF marker for ADC. Zidovudine may improve symptoms and prolong survival in patients with ADC, which rarely developed with continued zidovudine use in our study.