Neurophysiologic exploration: a reliable tool in HIV-1 encephalopathy diagnosis in children.

Background: HIV-1 related encephalopathy has a bad prognostic meaning in the course of AIDS disease, but the early association of different drugs can modify its course. For this reason it is very important to recognize CNS involvement as soon as possible. As shown in the literature, at least in adult studies, EEG and Evoked Potentials (EP) are good tools in evaluating CNS alterations.

Evolution of HIV-1 encephalopathy in children.

Background: This study has been conducted on a series of HIV-1 infected children, with the aim of illustrating the features of encephalopathy onset, its evolution and its influence on life expectancy. The most useful exams for diagnosis are also outlined.

Methods: The perspective study lasted from January 1989 to June 1997.

Diagnostic value of multimodal evoked potentials in HIV-1 infected children.

Evoked potentials (EP) help guide the diagnosis of central nervous system involvement in demyelinating pathologies regarding both children and adults, and in human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) correlated pathologies only in regard to adult patients. EP have been shown to be useful in highlighting early signs of the disease. We therefore studied EP in HIV-1 infected children with the aim of verifying the association of results with disease progression, clinical signs and electroencephalogram, and individualizing the most reliable test.

EEG diagnostic and predictive value on HIV infection in childhood.

This prospective study evaluated the electroencephalographic (EEG) diagnostic and prognostic value in childhood HIV infection. It was carried out on 125 subjects and included all Piemonte's seropositive children. The EEG was repeated every three months during the first 15 months of life, and then, at least, annually in the P1 and P2 group.