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AIDS dementia
From WikEM
Contents
Background
- Also referred to as HIV encephalopathy
- Progressive disorder heralded by impairment of recent memory and other cognitive deficits
- Occurs in 10-15% of HIV+ patients; 30% of patients with CD4 <100
- Diagnosis of exclusion
Clinical Features
- Can initially be confused with depression, anxiety disorders, or substance abuse
- Changes in mental status
- Aphasia
- Motor abnormalities. Patients with an established diagnosis of AIDS dementia who develop progressive neurologic or psychologic signs or symptoms warrant further evaluation for systemic or CNS processes
Differential Diagnosis
Altered mental status
Diffuse brain dysfunction
- Hypoxic encephalopathy
- Acute toxic-metabolic encephalopathy (Delirium)
- Hypoglycemia
- Hyperosmolar state (e.g., hyperglycemia)
- Electrolyte Abnormalities (hypernatremia or hyponatremia, hypercalcemia)
- Organ system failure
- Hepatic Encephalopathy
- Uremia/Renal Failure
- Endocrine (Addison's disease, Cushing syndrome, hypothyroidism, myxedema coma, thyroid storm)
- Hypoxia
- CO2 narcosis
- Hypertensive Encephalopathy
- Toxins
- Drug reactions (NMS, Serotonin Syndrome)
- Environmental causes
- Deficiency state
- Wernicke encephalopathy
- Subacture Combined Degeneragion (B12 deficiency)
- Vitamin D Deficiency
- Zinc Deficiency
- Sepsis
Primary CNS disease or trauma
- Direct CNS trauma
- Diffuse axonal injury
- Subdural/epidural hematoma
- Vascular disease
- Intraparenchymal hemorrhage
- SAH
- Stroke
- Hemispheric, brainstem
- CNS infections
- Neoplasms
- Paraneoplastic Limbic Encephalitis]
- Malignant Meningitis
- Pancreatic Insulinoma
- Seizures
- Nonconvulsive status epilepticus
- Postictal state
- Dementia
Psychiatric
- Acute psychosis
- Excited delirium
- Malingering
HIV associated conditions
- HIV neurologic complications
- HIV pulmonary complications
- Ophthalmologic complications
- Other
- HAART medication side effects[1]
- Lactic acidosis
- Neuropyschiatric effects
- Hepatic toxicity
- Renal toxicity
- Steven-Johnson's
- Cytopenias
- GI symptoms
- Endocrine abnormalities
Evaluation
- Head CT shows cortical atrophy and ventricular enlargement
- Associated with elevated CSF protein in 50-70% of cases
Management
See Also
References
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Authors
Jordan Swartz, Ross Donaldson, Daniel Ostermayer, Neil Young
