title: [Neuropathies and HIV retrovirus infections].
abstract: Neurologic complications are frequently observed during HIV-related infections and particularly in AIDS. According to the literature, these complications more often pertain to the central nervous system (CNS) than the peripheral nervous system (PNS). A prospective study was carried out in order to determine the frequency and type of PNS disorders during HIV infections, the neurotropism of which is now well established. Forty-one HIV-infected patients - 5 asymptomatic subjects, 14 ARC (AIDS-related complex) and 22 AIDS patients - were studied from a clinical and biological angle; 40 equally underwent an EMG and nervous conduction velocity tests, 26 a lumbar puncture and 25 a nervous biopsy (associated in three cases with a muscular biopsy). The study showed that a PNS-alteration is extremely frequent (36/41, or 88% of all cases), generally mild or even subclinical (17/36); most often, the aspect is that of a sensitive axonal polyneuropathy. More severe types (polyradiculoneuritis, sensorimotor polyneuropathy, etc.) are equally observed, but much rarer. Whatever their form may be, the PNS-lesions can be observed in so-called asymptomatic subjects (2/5) as well as ARC (12/14) and AIDS (22/22) patients. They are the manifestation either of a direct lesion of the nerve through HIV, or of immune mechanisms (of humoral or cellular mediation) or of both mechanisms combined.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie, Hôpital de Sainte-Marguerite, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gastaut
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gastaut
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Pellissier
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Tapko
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Finaud
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Delpero
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gamby
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Weill
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Carcassonne
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009431:Neural Conduction; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification
vernacular_title: Neuropathies et infections par le rétrovirus HIV.