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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…