title: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and the risk of stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is thought to increase the risk of stroke, few data exist to quantify this risk. This is the first population-based study to quantify the AIDS-associated risk of stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified all incident ischemic stroke (IS) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) cases among young adults 15 to 44 years of age in central Maryland and Washington, DC, who were discharged from any of the 46 hospitals in the study area in 1988 and 1991. Using data from the medical records, 2 neurologists reviewed each case to confirm the diagnosis. Cases of AIDS among these patients with stroke were defined using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria (1987). The number of cases of AIDS in the central Maryland and Washington population during 1988 and 1991 was determined from regional health departments working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Poisson regression was used to estimate the age-, race-, and sex-adjusted relative risk of stroke associated with AIDS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 385 IS cases (6 with AIDS) and 171 ICH cases (6 with AIDS). The incidences of IS and ICH among persons with AIDS were both 0.2% per year. AIDS conferred an adjusted relative risk of 13.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.1 to 30.8) for IS and 25.5 (95% CI, 11.2 to 58.0) for ICH. After exclusion of 5 cases of stroke in AIDS patients in whom other potential causes were identified, AIDS patients continued to have an increased risk of stroke with an adjusted relative risk of 9.1 (95% CI, 3.4 to 24.6) for IS and 12.7 (95% CI, 4.0 to 40.0) for ICH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This population-based study found that AIDS is strongly associated with both IS and ICH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201, USA. jwc007@dnamail.com
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Amelia N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: J Richard
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hebel
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Buchholz
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Earley
authors.forename: Constance J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Macko
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.forename: Barney J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wityk
authors.forename: Marcella A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wozniak
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kittner
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American