[A case of primary HIV infection presenting as meningoencephalitis]

A 23-year-old man presented with disturbance of consciousness and convulsion. Two weeks prior to his admission, he had general arthralgia, retro-orbital pain, and body temperature increase to 40 degrees C. These symptoms persisted for two weeks. He was admitted to the hospital because of general convulsion, followed by disturbance of consciousness. On admission, he was deeply lethargic. Cerebrospinal fluid obtained on admission showed pleocytosis (247/mm3) and an increased level of protein. Electroencephalogram obtained on admission disclosed diffuse slow waves. Enhanced cranial MR image did not show any abnormal lesions in the cerebral parenchyma. The patient was diagnosed as having meningoencephalitis and the treatment consisting of aciclovir, CTRX, and methylprednisolone was undertaken. A test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody was found to be positive on the second day of hospitalization. A Western blot was positive with bands at gp160 and P24 confirming HIV infection. Antibody titers of paired acute and convalescent sera including HSV, EBV, CMV, mumps, measles, and Japanese encephalitis did not show any significant increase. The patient became alert on the 3rd day of hospitalization. Electroencephalogram obtained on the 10th day of hospitalization was normal. Western blot, which was obtained 4 months later, was positive with bands at gp120, p68, p55, p52, gp41, p40, p34, p18, including gp160 and P24. He was diagnosed as having primary HIV infection. Meningoencephalitis was attributed to acute primary HIV infection. Acute HIV infection should be considered as an etiology of meningoencephalitis.