[Nuclear imaging in AIDS-related neurologic diseases]

A total of 356 patients with HIV-1 infection at different immunological and neurologic stages were included in this study. Patients with CNS opportunistic signs were excluded. All patients underwent SPET with HMPAO-99mTc; 166 patients were submitted to brain CT and 48 to MRI no later than 30 days after SPET examination. A control group of 12 intravenous drug users with no HIV infection was also examined. In the control group all SPET exams were negative; more positive SPET exams were observed with the progression of clinical and neurologic disease. No correlation was found between SPET positivity and immunological stage. In the asymptomatic stage 54% of SPET findings were positive. SPET was more sensitive than both CT and MRI in defining the abnormal changes of the earlier stages of this syndrome. Since opportunistic infections and neoplasms were excluded from this study and a control group was also considered, our results may indicate a major activity of HIV in the brain and suggest the need to monitor the earlier stages of this disease as well.