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Query: UMLS:C0001175 (AIDS)
 120,706 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The treatment of opportunistic infections in AIDS patients is changing rapidly as new drugs become available and new studies of old drugs are completed. I have tried to use the AIDS commentaries to keep up with these advances. Since fluconazole has just recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, I asked Dr. Robert A. Larsen, an active clinical investigator at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, to review his current recommendations for the use of the azoles in AIDS patients. The response to therapy of the various mycoses in patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is dramatically different from that in other patient populations and has different end points in each group. Cure is uncommon in HIV-infected patients, and relapsing infection when antifungal therapy is stopped is the rule. Control of infection with relief of symptoms and return to productive, high-quality life is therefore a commendable goal and a reasonable end point. Thus, the azoles, especially fluconazole, are important additions. From the data presented here it appears that amphotericin may still have an edge over fluconazole for acute therapy of cryptococcal meningitis in sicker patients, at least for the first several weeks (although fluconazole may be as good and is certainly less toxic and easier to administer for patients who can take oral medications). Whether 5FC should be added when amphotericin is used for acute therapy is still controversial. Dr. Larsen appears to favor it while my group feels that the potentiation of bone marrow toxicity without any clear evidence of enhanced efficacy in AIDS patients argues against its use.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Azoles and AIDS. 216 39

We reviewed the neuro-ophthalmic findings in 177 subjects with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex who underwent an eye examination in one center from January 1984 to May 1989. The findings included ocular motor nerve palsies (five cases), papilledema (two cases), cytomegalovirus optic neuritis (two cases), cortical blindness (one case), conjugate gaze palsy (one case), and altitudinal visual field defect (one case). These findings were attributed to central nervous system toxoplasmosis (four cases) or lymphoma (one case), cryptococcal meningitis (two cases), systemic cytomegalovirus infections (two cases), and herpes simplex encephalitis (one case). Of 177 patients, 61 patients were tested for syphilis. Twenty-six patients had positive rapid plasma reagin titers, and 28 had positive fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorbed tests. Human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals need to be screened routinely for syphilis.
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PMID:Neuro-ophthalmic findings in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 216

Striking results were obtained with oral itraconazole therapy in two opportunistic mycoses. Of 28 patients with cryptococcal meningitis, 18 achieved complete responses, including 16 of 24 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Other manifestations of cryptococcosis were similarly responsive. In aspergillosis 12 of 15 patients responded, including 8 of 10 immunocompromised hosts. These patients included those with invasive pulmonary disease (4/5), skeletal disease (2/2), pleural disease (1/2), and pericardial, sinus, mastoid, hepatosplenic, or nail disease (1/1). These results with itraconazole compare favorably to conventional (parenteral) therapy, and toxicity was minimal. This suggests that comparative trials are now in order.
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PMID:Itraconazole in opportunistic mycoses: cryptococcosis and aspergillosis. 217 Apr 80

Infections caused by Cryptococcus neoformans cause significant morbidity and high mortality, particularly among immunocompromised patients. Cryptococcal meningitis is an important cause of central nervous system disease and death in patients with AIDS. Although the introduction of amphotericin B has greatly improved the prognosis of patients with cryptococcal meningitis, 30 years of experience have revealed important clinical limitations, including modest efficacy, nephrotoxicity, other clinically significant toxicities, and the inconvenience of intravenous dosing. The discovery of the additive effects of amphotericin B and flucytosine in cryptococcosis resulted in some improvement in efficacy and reduction in amphotericin B-related toxicity. However, approximately 30% of patients with cryptococcal meningitis still fail to respond to therapy. Ketoconazole has not proved useful in treating cryptococcal meningitis. Accumulating evidence suggests that the antifungal triazoles fluconazole, itraconazole, and SCH 39304 represent an advance in the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis, particularly in AIDS patients. Preliminary clinical trials in patients with and without AIDS have indicated that fluconazole and intraconazole are effective and well tolerated as either initial or maintenance therapy. Two large comparative trials of fluconazole and amphotericin B in patients with cryptococcal meningitis (mostly those with AIDS) are under way.
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PMID:Overview: treatment of cryptococcal meningitis. 218 12

Fluconazole is a bis-triazole antifungal drug with novel pharmacokinetic properties (metabolic stability, relatively high water solubility) which contribute to its therapeutic activity. Clinical experience is limited to a relatively small number of mycoses and, as might be expected at this early stage of development, optimal dosage and duration of treatment for some serious mycoses is not yet established. Further study to evaluate higher dosages and to establish the efficacy of fluconazole relative to more established antifungal agents is required. In patients with oropharyngeal or oesophageal candidiasis, fluconazole produces rapid relief and eradicates the yeast in 50 to 90% of patients. Relapse of oral infection is common in chronically immunocompromised patients regardless of the antifungal used, and adequate primary therapy plus long term prophylaxis appears necessary in patients with AIDS. A single oral dose of fluconazole was comparable to standard topical azole therapy in women with acute vaginal candidiasis. Preliminary reports of success against deep-seated candidiasis are encouraging; moreover, experience in noncomparative clinical trials suggests that fluconazole 200 to 400mg once daily resolves infection in the majority of seriously ill patients. Clinical improvement has been reported in a few cases of pulmonary Aspergillus infection but the overall efficacy of conventional dosages of fluconazole in this mycosis has not been as impressive. Early experience in coccidioidosis, predominantly meningitis, suggests a beneficial clinical effect with oral fluconazole in this difficult to treat mycosis but relapse remains a problem. Fluconazole is a promising treatment of cryptococcal meningitis. The rate of clinical resolution and eradication of Cryptococcus neoformans from cerebrospinal fluid has been similar between fluconazole and amphotericin B treatment groups in comparative trials. Comparative trials of maintenance therapy indicate a similar low rate of relapse among patients given oral fluconazole once daily and intravenous amphotericin B once weekly. However, these results are preliminary and further study is required. Fluconazole has been well tolerated to date but wider clinical experience is needed, especially with regard to the rate occurrence of hepatotoxicity and exfoliative skin reactions. The promising clinical response of patients with various forms of candidiasis or cryptococcosis--together with convenient administration regimens--recommends fluconazole as a useful addition to currently available systemic antifungal therapies, in particular for the treatment of mycoses in patients with AIDS.
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PMID:Fluconazole. A review of its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, and therapeutic potential in superficial and systemic mycoses. 219 67

The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is fundamentally the same disease in all parts of the world, but the prevalence of microorganisms in an environment governs the patterns of disease arising from reactivated latent infections, invading pathogens and opportunistic infections. AIDS in Africa has certain characteristic presentations. Enteropathic AIDS is most common: Cryptosporidium and Isospora belli are identified in up to 60% of patients, but it is uncertain whether they are the causes of diarrhoea. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is rare. Tuberculosis, both pulmonary and extrapulmonary, is the supreme complicating infection. Herpes zoster is frequently the first clinical presentation, and has a 95% positive predictive value for HIV positivity. Measles may be more frequent in infants born to HIV-infected mothers, and appears to be worse in HIV-infected children. There is accelerated progress of both diseases in patients infected by HIV and Mycobacterium leprae. Salmonellosis is frequent. There is no direct interaction between malaria and HIV, but, by being a potent cause of anaemia, malaria enhances transmission of HIV to children through blood transfusion. HIV-positive subjects are liable to new or reactivated visceral leishmaniasis with dissemination to unusual sites. Cerebral toxoplasmosis is common. There are no apparent interactions between HIV and helminths, although there is one report of hyperinfection with Strongyloides stercoralis. Cryptococcal meningitis has high frequency. Infections with Histoplasma encapsulatum are common in tropical America, but there has been no increase of frequency of H. duboisii in Africa since the advent of AIDS.
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PMID:Opportunistic infections in AIDS in developed and developing countries. 220 Nov 7

Cryptococcosis is the most common, deep-seated fungal infection in AIDS patients, and cryptococcal meningitis is the most frequently observed syndrome. AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis usually have an indolent presentation and nonspecific findings on physical examination. Routine laboratory tests are of little assistance in diagnosing cryptococcal meningitis. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) white blood cell counts tend to be low, and glucose and protein levels are nonspecific. Serum cryptococcal antigen (CRAG) is a sensitive test for cryptococcal meningitis, and CSF CRAG is usually also positive. Definitive diagnosis is made by culture of the CSF. Therapy of cryptococcal meningitis is changing to antifungal agents that are easy to administer as outpatient therapy. Amphotericin B continues to be the primary antifungal used in initial treatment of cryptococcal meningitis; addition of flucytosine is of no benefit. Recent data suggest oral fluconazole is effective as primary therapy, and may be superior to amphotericin B as maintenance therapy. Maintenance therapy decreases the incidence of relapse and increases survival.
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PMID:Cryptococcal meningitis in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 224 8

Seven cases of bilateral, scattered, yellow-white choroidal lesions have been seen in AIDS patients since January 1988. One resulted from presumed extension of cryptococcal meningitis into the optic nerve and choroid. All the remaining six patients had pneumocystis pneumonia at some time during the course of the disease and were receiving aerosolised pentamidine therapy. None died quickly of disseminated Pneumocystis carinii infection, unlike previously reported patients. Mycobacterial infection was also present in five of these six patients. The differential diagnosis of this entity in AIDS patients is discussed.
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PMID:Choroidal lesions in patients with AIDS. 228 85

In order to evaluate the predictivity of neurological signs and symptoms in african patients, in Bangui's National Hospital Center (Central African Republic), 79 inpatients (aged 15-65 years) presenting with neurological manifestations (vascular attack, proved metabolic coma, or neuro-paludism excluded), and 64 age and sex matched controls in the same ward, without neurological or AIDS-related symptoms, were tested for the presence of HIV1-antibodies. 51/79 (65%) patients with neurological manifestations were HIV1-seropositive, and 10 (16%) of 64 controls (P less than 0.001). The positive predictive value (PPV) for HIV1 was 100% for patients with cutaneous zona (9 cases), Bell's palsy (4 cases) or cryptococcal meningitis (8 cases). The PPV for HIV1 was less important for the other neurological disorders: 43% for purulent meningitis (21 cases), 62% for major involvements of the central nervous system, without diagnosed etiology (32 cases; in which 13 were meningo-encephalitis, 16 focal deficits and 3 possible meningeal tuberculosis). In central Africa, the predictivity of neurological manifestations is high for HIV1 infection that emphasises the need for including neurological signs in clinical case definitions of AIDS in Africa.
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PMID:[Seroprevalence of HIV infection in a population of neurological patients in the Central African Republic]. 228 96

This is a report on the clinical courses and pathological findings in two gay male patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) infected in Japan. Case 1. A 39 year-old Japanese homosexual male was diagnosed as amebic dysentery complicated with liver abscess on admission. He was placed on Metronidazole with complete relief. Serological tests was positive for AIDS. On second admission, he was found to have pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and cytomegalo-viral uveitis. Administration of Pentamidine was partially effective, however the therapy with Azidothimidine was discontinued by bone marrow suppression. On his third admission, he suffered from cryptococcal meningitis and therapy-resistant fungusemia. Finally he died of recurrent pneumonia regardless of appropriate therapies. Autopsy proved extended cryptococcal infection in the brain, meninx, lungs, liver and kidney, and cytomegalo-infection in the lungs, liver and kidney. Furthermore, atypical mycobacteriosis was found in the lymph nodes. There was no active findings compatible with PCP. Case 2. A 44 year-old Japanese homosexual male was admitted with oral candidiasis and diagnosed as AIDS related complex. He suffered from pneumonia with marked improvement on sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim. On his second admission, he developed diarrhea and was found to be infected with Giardia lambia. In addition, cytomegalo-viral infection damaged his eye sight. He died of pneumonia and meningitis shortly there after. Autopsy proved a cytomegalo-viral infection in the lung and colon, old lesions possibly caused by PCP in the lungs, and suppurative meningitis in the meninx. These experiences confirm that AIDS patients can be exposed to several opportunistic infections at the same time in the multiple organs. Furthermore, it is suggested that homosexual patients with AIDS may have unique opportunistic infections such as amebic dysentery or Giardia lamblia unlike other AIDS patients related to hemophilia.
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PMID:[Clinical courses and pathological findings in two gay male patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome infected in Japan]. 233 6


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