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Updated: Jul 6, 2026
10:04
Quantification of Cerebral Vascular Architecture using Two-photon Microscopy in a Mouse Model of HIV-induced Neuroinflammation
Published on: January 12, 2016
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[Unspecified encephalitis in HIV-infected patients: clinical and postmortem evaluation]
S L Voznesenskiy1, V I Shakhgildyan2, E V Petrova3
1People's Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University).
Terapevticheskii Arkhiv
|October 26, 2022
Summary
Determining the cause of central nervous system (CNS) lesions in HIV patients is difficult. Post-mortem examinations often fail to identify the specific pathology, highlighting diagnostic challenges in HIV-associated CNS diseases.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pathology
Context:
- Central nervous system (CNS) lesions pose diagnostic challenges in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients.
- Unspecified encephalitis is a common clinical diagnosis in advanced HIV.
- Many HIV patients with CNS lesions are ART-naive, indicating potential for opportunistic infections.
Purpose:
- To determine the nature and cause of CNS lesions in deceased HIV patients with a clinical diagnosis of unspecified encephalitis.
- To correlate antemortem diagnoses with post-mortem pathological findings.
- To identify the proportion of CNS lesions with unidentified etiology even after pathological examination.
Summary:
- CNS lesions were observed in 58.8% of HIV patients admitted to the ICU.
- Antemortem diagnoses included toxoplasmosis, HIV-encephalitis, and CNS lymphoma, but the cause remained unidentified in 68% of cases with CNS lesions.
- Post-mortem examinations confirmed HIV-encephalitis and toxoplasmosis but failed to establish the etiology in 20.7% of cases, with cerebral edema and hemorrhagic syndrome being common findings.
Impact:
- Accurate retrospective identification of CNS lesion etiology is crucial for improving diagnostic strategies in HIV patients.
- Understanding the pathological processes aids in developing targeted therapeutic approaches.
- This study underscores the need for advanced diagnostic methods for CNS pathologies in HIV-infected individuals.
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