Neuropathology (Np) Findings in 104 Cases of Acquired Immune Defiency Syndrome (Aids)

Neurologic Disease in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Drug Abusers

“…Previous esti¬ mates of neurologic disease in HIV in¬ fection, based on either retrospective analysis of largely non-drug abusing patients, have been up to 60% of pa¬ tients with AIDS and 41% of patients with ARC.1'3·4'2123 In a prospective study of 132 patients with AIDS (including 15 PDAs) neurologic disease preceded the diagnosis of AIDS in 20% and eventually developed in 63%.5 When based on autopsy studies of patients with AIDS, prevalence of central ner¬ vous system abnormalities has been consistently higher, ranging from 59% to92%. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] In an autopsy report from New York City, 46 of 70 patients with neither fo¬ cal central nervous system lesions nor metabolic encephalopathy had exhib¬ ited behavioral or cognitive change. Sixty-five of the 70 brains, however, had changes of "AIDS-dementia complex", believed to represent direct central nervous system infection by HIV.3133 In our series the most common central nervous system abnormality was altered mentation, present in 63% of all patients.…”