AIDS-ASSOCIATED INTUSSUSCEPTION IN YOUNG-ADULTS

We have examined the changing demographics of adult intussusception an d implicate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- and acquired immune de ficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated gastrointestinal pathology as risk factors for intussusception in young adults. The clinical index of su spicion for intussusception should be raised for an HIV-positive young adult with intermittent crampy abdominal pain. Over a 10-year period, eight cases of adult intussusception were diagnosed at our institutio n, and we reviewed the diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans and r ecords of these patients to correlate them with radiological studies, clinical history, surgical findings, laboratory studies, pathologic an alysis, and outcome. Three of the eight patients with adult intussusce ption had AIDS, all diagnosed by CT scans. Their average age was 41 ye ars, whereas average age of the non-HIV-associated patients was 63. Th ese findings suggest that HIV- and AIDS-associated gastrointestinal pa thology provide lead points for intussusception and are significant ri sk factors for intussusception in young adults. We reviewed the five p reviously reported cases of AIDS and intussusception and conclude that intussusception should be a diagnostic consideration in an HIV-positi ve young adult with abdominal complaints. It is clear that AIDS-associ ated intussusception is a real clinical problem and that CT is an effe ctive method of diagnosing it.