Abstract :
Background: Opportunistic infections of the central nervous system (CNS) are common complications of advanced
immunodeficiency in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We aimed to study the clinical profile
of CNS infections in HIV patients, effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on various patient variables and mortality outcomes
associated with various patient characteristics. Methods: After approval of the ethics committee, we enrolled 100 patients
from the Department of Medicine at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital from January 2011. Patients who were
diagnosed with HIV using ELISA and admitted with a CMS infection were consented and enrolled for the study. Various
clinico-laboratory parameters like CD4 counts, ART, signs and symptoms were collected and analysed with approapriate
statistical techniques. P vlaue less than 0.05 was taken as staistically significant. Results: Out of 100 patients, 71 were
males, average age 35.24 years. Majority had headaches, CD4 counts between 101-200 cells/mm3and 57 were on ART.
Tubercular mengitis was the most common CNS infection in our patient population. We found statistical signifiance in the
occurance of CNS infections and ART among patients. Mortality outcomes were significantly associated with signs and
symptoms of the patients (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our results show that CNS infections can occur even with high CD4
counts. So strict monitoring and long term followup of HIV patients is needed. Areas of future research should focus on
long term clinical outcomes of HIV patients and elucidating factors reponsible for it.
Keyword :
HIV, central nervous system, infection, correlation, CD4 counts.