Neurological complications of varicella-zoster virus in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: changes in prevalence and diagnostic utility of polymerase chain reaction in cerebrospinal fluid.
Neurological complications caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV) were diagnosed in 13 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in our hospital. There was a favorable influence of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the prevalence of these disorders among acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients: Since 1996, only 1 of 961 AIDS patients had VZV neurological disease, compared to 9 of 1088 patients before that year (P =.02). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detected VZV DNA in cerebrospinal from 4 of 5 patients with VZV neurological disease, and from 2 of 130 HIV-infected patients with other neurological diseases (sensitivity 0.8, specificity 0.98 [95% confidence intervals 0.45-1 and 0.96-1, respectively], positive predictive value 0.94).
Corral
Iñigo
I
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain. icorral.hrc@salud.madrid.org
Quereda
Carmen
C
Antela
Antonio
A
Pintado
Vicente
V
Casado
José Luis
JL
Martín-Dávila
Pilar
P
Navas
Enrique
E
Moreno
Santiago
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D020804:Encephalitis, Varicella Zoster / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence
D004279:DNA, Viral