Neurological Manifestations of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Objectives  To determine the neurological manifestations in AIDS patients with a recent diagnosis. Materials and methods A descriptive, retrospective study was carried out on 82 patients, admitted to the University Hospital in Curitiba for a period of 30 months, with positive serology for HIV, using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method for diagnosis and confirmation. Results Of the 82 patients studied, 28 (34.1%) presented neurological manifestations; 16 were male (57.14%) and 12 female (42.85%). The age ranged from 22 to 79 years, with a median age of 35 years. Neurological manifestations were: headache (19.29%), motor deficit (19.29%), cranial nerve disorders (14.03%), epileptic seizures (10.52%), dementia (8.77%), coma (5.26%), ataxia (5.26%), mental confusion (5.26%), and tremor (3.5%). Cerebrovascular and neuroinfectious diseases (including neurotoxoplasmosis, bacterial and cryptococcal meningitis, and cerebral tuberculosis) were the most frequent diagnosis with 10 cases each (33.33%). Of the 28 patients, 10 (35.7%) died and 18 (64.28%) were discharged. Conclusion Based on the results found, it appears that one-third of AIDS patients with up to one year of diagnosis (34.14%) have some type of neurological manifestation, highlighting the importance of performing specific anamnesis and neurological examination in these patients.