Spinal cord degeneration in AIDS

Ten months before his death, a 36-year-old homosexual man with AIDS developed progressive symmetric paraparesis with muscle wasting, paresthesias, reflex-uninhibited bladder function, and bowel incontinence. Neuropathologic postmortem examination revealed a symmetric degeneration of the lateral and anterior pyramidal tracts as well as the posterior columns. Scattered microglial nodules were present in the brain and spinal cord. The cause of this spinal cord complication remains uncertain. Possible etiologies of the demyelinating process include infectious, parainfectious, nutritional, paraneoplastic, and toxic causes.