INFLAMMATORY DISEASES RESULTING FROM IMMUNODEFICIENCY

Since the onset of the AIDS pandemic in 1981, acute and chronic inflam matory infectious diseases of the central nervous system have become a n increasing problem for the clinical neurologist. Directly HIV-1-asso ciated diseases (such as acute meningoencephalitis during seroconversi on, chronic HIV encephalitis and immune vasculitis) as well as so-call ed ''opportunistic infections'' with parasites (such as toxoplasma gon dii), fungi (cryptococcus neoformans, candida albicans), typical and a typical mycobacteria and viruses (herpes family and cytomegaly virus) demand specific and sometimes invasive (e.g. stereotactic brain biopsy ) diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The increasing number of iatr ogenic immunosuppressed, but also of immunocompetent patients infected with ''classic'' HIV-1-associated '' opportunistic'' disease requires extension of the clinician's diagnostic knowledge.