Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity<br />in HIV Infection:Evaluation by Contrast-Enhanced<br />Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
This study assesses the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive individuals to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent Gd-DTPA. Twelve HIV seropositive patients and six control subjects had T2-weighted and serial pre- and post-contrast TI-weighted MRI. Ten of the twelve seropositive patients demonstrated white matter hyperintensity with or without atrophy on T2-weighted MRI and 8/10 who underwent neurological examination demonstrated neurological abnormalities. No statistically significant differences of trends in white matter pixel values were observed between pre- and post-contrast scans in any of the patients or controls. Serial T1-weighted MRI does not demonstrate any change in the integrity of the BBB to Gd-DTPA in HIV seropositive patients, regardless of the presence or absence of white matter hyperintensity with or without atrophy on T2-weighted MRI or clinical signs of HIV-I associated with cognitive/motor complex.
Wilkinson
I D
ID
, Mortimer Street, London, W1N 8AA, England.
Chong
W K
WK
Paley
M
M
Shepherd
J K
JK
Chinn
R J
RJ
Miller
R F
RF
Sweeney
B
B
Kendall
B E
BE
Hall-Craggs
M A
MA
Harrison
M J
MJ
D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging
D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA