DEMENTIA ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME

Approximately one third of adults and half of children with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) eventually have neurologic complications, which are directly attributable to infection of the brain by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).1,2 Neurologic problems occur even in the absence of opportunistic infection or secondary cancer.3 Important clinical manifestations include impaired mental concentration, slowness of hand movements, and difficulty in walking. This malady has been called the AIDS dementia complex by Price and colleagues3; a more recent term is HIV-1–associated cognitive–motor complex. Pathologically, the signs of HIV-1 infection in the central nervous system (or HIV. © 1995, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.