Abstract

CASANOVA SOTOLONGO, Pedro  and  CASANOVA CARRILLO, Carlos. Neurological clinic in HIV patients in an African country. Rev cubana med [online]. 2005, vol.44, n.1-2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-302X.

The AIDS cases are often accompanied with neuropsychiatric disorders. A descriptive and retrospective study was conducted among the patients admitted due to this reason at the Central Hospital of Beira, Mozambique from January 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999. A serological investigation was included to determine the presence of HIV infection. The antiretrovirals were not applied in the treatment of these patients. Only the sustenance measures were taken mainly for the neurological affection. Therefore, the cases considered as AIDS were subjected to the normal evolution of the disease. Of the 210 patients suffering from neurological affections with diagnostic possibilities of contamination because of the virus, 134 (63.8) were seropositive. A significant predominance of males (91, 67.9 %) was observed. Headache, vertigo and paresthesias were the most frequent complaints in both study groups. General lethality in seropositive patients with neurological dysfunction was 46.2 % . Of the total of 134 patients included in the sample, 36 died in less than the first 2 weeks of admission, accounting for 28.3 % of lethality. It was confirmed that in this AIDS stage with neurological disorders, the prognosis is very bad, particularly, in individuals that have not been treated with antiretrovirals.

Keywords : Lethality; neurological disorders; human immunodeficiency virus.

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