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[HIV-associated myelopathy: an uncommon indicator of AIDS]
A Konaté1, P Ceballos, S Rivière
1Service de médecine interne A, hôpital Saint-Eloi, 80, avenue Augustin-Fliche, 34295 Montpellier, France.
Introduction:
Spinal cord lesions are an uncommon mode of discovering acquired immunodeficiency syndrome because they usually appear at a later stage.
Exegesis:
We report a 58-year-old patient who had a spastic paraparesia and sphincter dysfunction. The spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging showed spontaneous hypersignals on T2-weighted images at the cervical and thoracic levels, enhanced with gadolinium, and without swelling. No cause was found. The HIV serology was positive and allowed us to consider an HIV-associated myelopathy. The antiretroviral therapy led to functional recovery.
Conclusion:
An HIV serology is suggested whenever an unexplained intramedullary lesion is discovered. Indeed, the diagnosis of HIV-associated myelopathy implies a specific therapeutic approach.