HIV-ASSOCIATED BRAIN PATHOLOGY - A COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL STUDY

Little is known about the frequency and variation of HIV-associated br ain pathology in different geographical centres. To assess whether the re is an association between the frequency of disease and demographic factors we examined the neuropathological findings in four European an d two American cities. The cities included London, Edinburgh, Paris, B udapest, Baltimore and Newark. Information was collected on a total of 1144 cases. HIV encephalitis was the most common observation in all t he centres, although its frequency varied between them (P < 0.01). Fur thermore, there were significant differences (P < 0.001) between the v arious categories of exposure and the frequency of HIV encephalitis in Edinburgh and other centres. The occurrence of toxoplasmosis, progres sive multifocal leukoencephalolpathy (PML) and cryptococcal infection also differed between the various centres (P < 0.01), None of the find ings was attributable to age, sex, or ethnic origin, but the introduct ion of anti-retroviral treatment, such as Zidovudine, may have been im portant, Overall, this study highlights geographical variability and t he potential importance for group of exposure and anti-retroviral medi cation as factors affecting the development of various HIV-associated brain lesions.