A New Neurological Syndrome in HIV-Infected Drug Users?

HIV infection and substance abuse are both associated with neurological complications, but little is known about the two in tandem. Clinicians at Johns Hopkins Hospital recently noted several HIV-infected drug users with an atypical presentation — fulminant encephalopathy with basal ganglia involvement — and subsequently conducted a retrospective review to look for other individuals with a similar illness.

From a population of 2754 HIV-infected drug users who received care at the institution between 1993 and 2008, the investigators found 10 adults (age range, 28–53; 7 men; 3 women) who had noninfectious, nonneoplastic, hyperintense bilateral lesions of the basal ganglia. Eight patients died from this neurological syndrome (median survival, 2…