[Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in AIDS. Overview and retrospective analysis of 17 patients].

We describe retrospectively the course of 17 AIDS patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and give a review of their clinical symptoms and survival times. The relative frequency of PML in our cohort of AIDS patients was 2.6%. The mean of CD4-positive cells was 80.5 +/- 82.5/microliter. CD4-positive cells were > 200/microliter only in one patient and increased significantly under a combination of three antiretroviral drugs whereas, with the other patients, CD4-positive cells did not increase with a maximum of two antiretroviral drugs. The mean survival time was 6.6 (1.5-20) months and correlated positively with the number of CD4-positive cells. The diagnosis of PML can be regarded as confirmed when JC-virus DNA is detectable in cerebrospinal fluid, typical changes can be seen in MRI and typical clinical symptoms occur. No effective therapy is known to date. Single case reports on therapy with cidofovir, as in one of the cases described here, showed positive results.