Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2025
Oral Combinational Antiretroviral Treatment in HIV-1 Infected Humanized Mice
Published on: October 6, 2022
HIV Infection and 90-Day Stroke Outcomes in Uganda: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study
Amir A Mbonde1, Jonathan Chang1, Abdu K Musubire1
1Department of Medicine (AAM, AK, MS), Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda; Harvard Medical School (AAM, MS); Department of Medicine (JC), Boston Medical Center, MA; Department of Medicine (Neurology) (AKM), Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Epidemiology (SO), Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Department of Radiology (AM), Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda; Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (RJB), Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, AZ; Departments of Neurology and Medicine (Infectious Diseases) (FCC), University of California San Francisco; Department of Neurology (DRS), John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Department of Internal Medicine (DRS), University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia; Department of Neurology (CBOC), Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale; and Department of Medicine and Medical Practice Evaluation Center (MS), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Background And Objectives:
Little is known about the impact of HIV infection on the clinical presentation and outcomes after stroke in the modern antiretroviral therapy (ART) era. We aimed to compare stroke characteristics and outcomes between persons with HIV (PWH) and without HIV (PWOH) presenting with stroke in Uganda.
Methods:
We conducted a matched cohort study at Mulago National Referral Hospital and Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital between January 2018 and November 2020. We enrolled consecutive PWH presenting with CT-confirmed acute or subacute stroke (symptom onset ≤14 days) and matched them by sex and stroke type to 2 consecutive available PWOH admitted to the same hospital. We obtained baseline clinical data and followed participants for 90 days from the day of clinical presentation. We compared stroke severity (defined by the NIH stroke scale [NIHSS]) and 90-day all-cause mortality and morbidity (using the modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) by HIV serostatus with and without adjustment for confounders.
Results:
We enrolled 105 PWH and 157 PWOH with stroke. PWH were younger (mean [SD] age 49 [14] vs 59 [16] years, p < 0.001), and nearly 80% (82/105) were on ART for a median of 5 years and a median CD4 count of 214 cells/uL (interquartile range 140, 337). Compared with PWOH, PWH presented with a 3-point lower median NIHSS (16 vs 19, p = 0.011), a 20% lower proportion of all-cause mortality at 90 days (p = 0.001), and had less disability at 90 days (median mRS 4 vs 5, p = 0.004). Age and NIHSS-adjusted odds ratio of 90-day all-cause mortality in PWH compared with PWOH was 0.45 (95% CI 0.22-0.96, p = 0.037).
Discussion:
In the modern ART era, PWH with acute stroke in Uganda present with modest stroke and are significantly less likely to die within 90 days than PWOH. This potentially reflects the protective effects of ART, enhanced health care access, and their younger age at stroke presentation.
