Neurological complications of HIV infection in critically ill patients: Clinical features and outcomes

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the prognosis of HIV-infected patients with acute neurological complications at the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. We performed a retrospective study in HIV-infected patients admitted to a medical ICU with neurological complications between 2001 and 2008. Among the 210 studied patients (median [interquartile range] CD4-cell count: 80 [18-254]/μL; HIV viral load: 4.8 [2-5.3] log₁₀/mL), 40 (19%) had unknown HIV status at admission. Neurological complications consisted in delirium (45%), coma (39%), seizures (32%) and/or intracranial hypertension (21%). Admission diagnoses were AIDS-defining CNS disease for 88 (42%) patients, non-AIDS-defining CNS disease for 45 (21%), and systemic disease with neurological signs for 77 (37%). Seizures (p=0.003), focal deficit (p<0.001) and intracranial hypertension (p<0.001) were more frequently observed in patients with AIDS-defining CNS disease. Factors independently associated with ICU mortality (29.5%) were intracranial hypertension [odds ratio (OR), 5.09; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 2.17-11.91], vasopressor use [OR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.78-8.60] and SAPS II score [per 10-point increment, OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.31-1.93]. Prognosis of HIV-infected patients with neurological complications depends rather on clinical presentation than on HIV-related parameters. Intracranial hypertension symptoms at admission have a major impact on outcome.