OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical significance of computed tomographic brain scan abnormalities observed in children with symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus disease. PATIENTS: Eighty-seven previously untreated children with symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 disease. METHODS: General levels of cognitive functioning, obtained from age-appropriate intelligence tests, and social-emotional behavior were correlated with computed tomographic brain scan abnormality ratings. RESULTS: A significant relation between computed tomographic brain scan abnormalities and cognitive dysfunction as well as aberrant behavior was found, which appeared stronger in (younger) vertically infected children compared with transfusion-infected patients. Calcifications, independent from the degree of brain atrophy, were associated with significantly greater delays in neurocognitive development. CONCLUSION: Computed tomographic brain scan abnormalities, even when mild, were of clinical significance, suggesting that human immunodeficiency virus-associated central nervous system compromise is a continuous process and that scans may be helpful at baseline in defining patients at risk and for monitoring them during therapy.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical significance of computed tomographic brain scan abnormalities observed in children with symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus disease. PATIENTS: Eighty-seven previously untreated children with symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 disease. METHODS: General levels of cognitive functioning, obtained from age-appropriate intelligence tests, and social-emotional behavior were correlated with computed tomographic brain scan abnormality ratings. RESULTS: A significant relation between computed tomographic brain scan abnormalities and cognitive dysfunction as well as aberrant behavior was found, which appeared stronger in (younger) vertically infected children compared with transfusion-infectedpatients. Calcifications, independent from the degree of brain atrophy, were associated with significantly greater delays in neurocognitive development. CONCLUSION: Computed tomographic brain scan abnormalities, even when mild, were of clinical significance, suggesting that human immunodeficiency virus-associated central nervous system compromise is a continuous process and that scans may be helpful at baseline in defining patients at risk and for monitoring them during therapy.
Authors: Kathleen M Malee; Katherine Tassiopoulos; Yanling Huo; George Siberry; Paige L Williams; Rohan Hazra; Renee A Smith; Susannah M Allison; Patricia A Garvie; Betsy Kammerer; Suad Kapetanovic; Sharon Nichols; Russell Van Dyke; George R Seage; Claude A Mellins Journal: AIDS Care Date: 2011-12