A 12-MONTH STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF ORAL ZIDOVUDINE ON NEURODEVELOPMENTAL FUNCTIONING IN A COHORT OF VERTICALLY HIV-INFECTED INNER-CITY CHILDREN

Objective: To examine the effects of oral zidovudine on the neurodevel opmental functioning of HIV-infected children. Methods: Oral zidovudin e was administered to 54 symptomatic children with vertically transmit ted HIV infection (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention class P2 ). All children were recruited from an inner-city pediatric HIV/AIDS o utpatient clinic and ranged in age from 2 months to 12 years and 11 mo nths (mean age, 3 years) at entry. Neurodevelopmental functioning, hei ght and weight, and lymphocyte subpopulation data were ascertained for all the children pretherapy, and 6 and 12 months post-therapy initiat ion. Results: Analysis of the 6- and 12-month post-initiation drug dat a found no significant change in neurodevelopmental functioning. Heigh t and weight percentiles remained the same or improved in the majority of children. CD4+ cell counts declined over the treatment period with CD4+ counts < 500 x 10(6)/l observed in 15% of the children pre-thera py, and 33% after 1 year. Conclusion: In contrast with previously publ ished data, the present study observed no improvement in neurodevelopm ental functioning in HIV-infected children treated with oral zidovudin e.