title: Clinical neuropathy in HIV/AIDS: an eight-year review of hospitalized patients in Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria.
abstract: HIV/AIDS is a multi-systemic disease that targets mainly the immune and nervous systems. Although about 4.4% of Nigerians are infected with HIV, data on the spectrum of HIV-related nervous disease in this population is rare. This study describes the neurological manifestations of HIV/AIDS in northern Nigeria. We undertook retrospective and descriptive analyses of the demographic, clinical, neurologic and laboratory data of all hospitalized HIV/AIDS adults in a referral hospital in northwestern Nigeria. The study period covered 2000 to 2007. We studied 322 HIV/AIDS patients (218 men, 104 women) aged 33.4 +/- 11.4 years (range: 18-65 years) who constituted 3.5% of the total medical admissions. HIV transmission was exclusively by heterosexual intercourse involving multiple partners. The majority (70.2%) was married and 78.9% were in stage III/IV HIV/AIDS disease. Fifty-two (16.2%) had CD4+ T-cell count determination, the mean value being 220 +/- 147.2 cells/m(3), and 58 (18.0%) were on highly active antiretroviral therapy. Fifty-one (15.8%) had neurological complications dominated by central nervous diseases including encephalitis (17.6%), dementia (16.2%) and stroke (14.9%). Peripheral nerve involvements were relatively infrequent. Compared with HIV/AIDS patients without neurological complications, a significantly higher proportion of those with HIV-associated neuropathy had a stage IV disease (30% versus 9.4%, chi(2) = 19.5, P < 0.001). Neurological complications, particularly central nervous diseases, are an important cause of morbidity in the HIV/AIDS population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria. simeonisezuo@yahoo.com
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Isezuo
authors.forename: A Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Sani
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ezunu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maiyaki
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Njoku
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Obembe
mesh_terms: D016263:AIDS-Associated Nephropathy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies