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Cutaneous signs and symptoms associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) increase in frequency and severity as the disease advances. However, infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may produce a transient macular roseola-like eruption.…

Infectious or noninfectious ocular disorders, some of which may lead to severe visual impairment, have been reported in 40 to 90% of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) referred for formal ophthalmoscopy. In…

The gastrointestinal tract is an especially common site for clinical expression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and is an important factor in morbidity from opportunistic infections in late-stage disease, as well as…

Much of the improved survival for patients with HIV infection in recent years owes to the prevention of PCP. Hence, the use of antipneumocystis agents such as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, dapsone,…

Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia
PCP is the most common lung disease in persons with advanced HIV infection. The presentation tends to be indolent, characterized by slowly progressive shortness of breath…

Although the differential diagnosis of lung disease in a person with HIV infection is quite broad, the probabilities of the various diagnoses can be reduced in a given patient by knowing the…

Disorders Not Necessarily Associated with Severe Immune Suppression

Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis in the PCHIS was defined by the presence of cough with sputum production for at…

Relationship of respiratory tract diseases to CD4+ Lymphocyte count, Demographic Characteristics, and Transmission Category

PCP is the most common lung disease in persons with CD4+ counts…

The conceptual relationship between the frequency and spectrum of lung diseases and CD4+ lymphocyte count is shown in Figure 412-1. The data that support this concept have…

The hallmark of the effect of HIV infection on host immune response is a progressive reduction in the number of circulating CD4+ lymphocytes or “T-helper” cells. The CD4+ lymphocyte plays…

Philip C. Hopewell

Lung disease, specifically Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), was the first recognized mode of expression of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Since the original clusters of…

A new study from infectious disease researchers at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School finds that a drug already given orally to treat HIV is also safe…

When it comes to fighting the AIDS virus, the sooner patients start taking powerful drug cocktails, the better - even when it comes to side-effects known as toxicities, U.S.…

Johns Hopkins scientists say an infected person’s HIV subtype is a better predictor than viral load for determining rapid death from AIDS.

Just over half of new infections with the AIDS virus in the United States are in blacks, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

A study of detailed data from…

The disorders presenting with more general or diffuse brain dysfunction and without focal features can be further divided into those in which consciousness remains fully preserved and those accompanied by a concomitant decrease…

Several types of myopathy may complicate HIV-1 infection. Both inflammatory and noninflammatory myopathies have been described, ranging in severity from asymptomatic creatine kinase elevation to severe proximal weakness. Patients with inflammatory, polymyositis-like illnesses have improved with…

In approaching diagnosis of parenchymal brain disease, it is useful to separate the conditions that cause predominantly focal symptoms and signs from those producing more generalized brain dysfunction. Patients in the former group…

The most common spinal cord affliction in AIDS patients is the pathologically defined vacuolar myelopathy, which has been included within the broader clinical designation of the AIDS dementia complex because it is usually accompanied by evidence…

Several disorders may involve the leptomeninges in patients with advanced HIV-1 disease. The most important of these is infection by Cryptococcus neoformans. This condition may present subacutely with headache, nausea, vomiting, and confusion, just…

Effects of HIV-1 on the Nervous System
Several disorders have been suggested to relate in a more direct or fundamental way to HIV-1 infection. These include the AIDS dementia…

As with other organ systems, the spectrum of opportunistic infections of the nervous system results from the intrinsic vulnerabilities of the tissue (fertile soil) and the pattern of immunosuppression, in this case circumscribed…

The major consideration in this category is primary brain lymphoma. These B-cell lymphomas arise in the CNS, usually are multicentric (at least microscopically), and rarely metastasize systemically. Characteristically, they develop late in HIV-1 infection when…

The evolving, and eventually severe, impairment of immune defenses caused by HIV-1 renders the nervous system highly vulnerable to a broad spectrum of disorders. The following overview emphasizes general principles of pathogenesis and approach…