Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6
pubmed:dateCreated
1992-7-2
pubmed:abstractText
Because of the high incidence of neurological complications seen in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), an increasing number of these cases are being referred to neurosurgeons for consideration of intracranial biopsy. To better determine the need for biopsy in these patients we evaluated the accuracy of non-tissue-based neurological diagnoses in AIDS patients who subsequently had a final diagnosis on the basis of biopsy or postmortem brain examinations. The records of 56 AIDS patients who had undergone either autopsy or brain biopsy were retrospectively reviewed. Of the ten patients who underwent biopsy, three were found to have a lesion that was different from the suspected diagnosis and that resulted in a change in treatment. Thirty patients with neurological symptoms had postmortem brain examinations. In the case of the 12 patients who had carried specific diagnoses and received treatments based on those diagnoses, only six diagnoses (50%) were proven correct at autopsy. Of the 18 cases that did not record a specific antemortem diagnosis, in only 5 were normal brains reported, while the others reported a variety of nonspecific or infectious findings. Twelve patients without neurological symptoms had postmortem brain examinations and only six of these (50%) had normal or slightly atrophic brains. Case reports of the others noted nonspecific findings most of which were suggestive of subacute HIV encephalitis. The poor rate of diagnostic accuracy in this series suggests that biopsy should be considered for atypical lesions or those that do not respond to empiric therapy. The use and relative sensitivities of various diagnostic studies are also discussed.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0090-3019
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
37
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
432-40
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1992
pubmed:articleTitle
Diagnostic accuracy of AIDS-related CNS lesions.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona 85013.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Case Reports