CEREBRAL ATROPHY IN AIDS - A STEREOLOGICAL STUDY

Stereological estimates of mean volumes, surface areas. and cortical t hicknesses were obtained on formalin-fixed brains from 19 men with AID S and 19 controls. Volumes of neocortex, white matter, central brain n uclei. ventricles and archicortex were estimated using point counting and Cavalieri's unbiased principle for volume estimation. In AIDS, the mean volume of neocortex was reduced by 11 %, and that of the central brain nuclei by 18 %. Mean ventricular volume was increased by 55 %. Mean neocortical thickness was reduced by 12 %. The mean volume of whi te matter was reduced by 13 %. The findings in 6 clinically demented A IDS patients were not statistically different from the rest of the gro up.