Loading...
We know that the successful eradication of HIV from plasma does not necessarily mean the virus is quiescent in the brain. HIV has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) despite optimal suppression in plasma, and some of these cases have been associated with neurocognitive impairment that persists or worsens despite antiretroviral therapy (ART). Researchers in France now describe 11 patients who developed acute or subacute neurological syndromes in the setting of complete plasma virologic suppression. All patients proved to have detectable HIV in CSF but no other obvious neurological diagnoses, raising the new question of whether HIV encephalopathy remains a risk even for optimally treated patients.
All the patients had longstanding HIV i…