Objective: To carry out a descriptive study of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) with neurological failure and to identify parameters that are predictive of death within 3 months.
Design: Case series study.
Population and setting: A total of 84 consecutive HIV-infected patients admitted to an infectious disease ICU in a university hospital for neurological failure. A thorough clinical, laboratory, and brain computed tomography (CT) scan workup was done within 48 hours of admission.
Main results: The mean (+/- SD) CD4+ lymphocyte count was 0.067 (+/- 0.086) x 10(9)/L. Mechanical ventilation was necessary within 48 hours of admission in 67 cases (80%). The brain CT scan revealed abscesses in 51 patients (61%). The abscesses were attributed to probable toxoplasmosis in 47 patients. A total of 57 patients died, yielding a 3-month survival rate of 32%. By the log-rank test, the following factors were predictive of death within 3 months of admission to the ICU: Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 7 (P = .01), signs of brain stem involvement (P = .001), and need for mechanical ventilation in the 48 hours after admission (P = .02). In a Cox model, only Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 7 (P = .006) and clinical signs of brain stem involvement (P = .02) were predictive of death within 3 months of admission to the ICU.
Conclusions: Despite a thorough examination, no initial HIV-specific parameters were identified as predictive of death. The prognostic factors found simply reflected the severity of neurological involvement in the various etiologies.