Mortality in HIV-Infected Patients with Cryptococcal Meningitis

Abstract

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) remains a common, life-threatening infection in HIV-infected individuals in many world regions despite increasing availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and antifungal medications. Researchers recently explored factors associated with mortality in nine trials among HIV-infected patients with CM in Africa and Asia. All trials used early fungicidal activity (i.e., rate of decrease in cerebrospinal fluid [CSF]) cryptococcal log colony–forming units/mL) as the primary outcome. The study involved 501 ART-naive patients with first-episode CM (median age, 34; 52% …