[Paranoid hallucinatory psychoses as the first manifestation of HIV infection]

All parts of the central nervous system may be involved in HIV infection, resulting in a variety of neuropsychiatric syndromes some of which resemble functional psychoses. Corresponding to the HIV-associated disease these syndromes differ in course and severity. A very common form is the AIDS-dementia complex, especially late in the course of disease. Up to now, however, a specific therapy is not available. A case of severe psychosis with paranoid delusions and hallucinations in a patient with otherwise asymptomatic HIV infection is reported. From her biography it was concluded that the infection occurred 10 years earlier. During therapy with azidothymidine, symptoms disappeared within 3 months, and more than one year after admission to our hospital the patient was still able to work. According to the course of the disease in this patient, reports from the literature and pathogenetic theories, an early therapy with antiviral agents is recommended in HIV-induced subacute encephalitis.