Authors : P.C. Stanley , E.G. Asekomeh and C.N. Stanley
Abstract: The neurological complications of HIV infection are still an unresolved problem and contribute importantly to patient morbidity and mortality. Myriads of neurological conditions can complicate HIV/AIDS. These include directly HIV-associated complications, opportunistic infections and neoplasms. Neurological complications can also be provoked by so called immune reconstitution phenomena. Overall, secondary disease of the CNS occurs in approximately one-third of patients with AIDS. Neurological conditions could coexist with psychiatric illnesses especially in a setting of immunosuppression as seen in HIV/AIDS. This study aims to determine the pattern of neurological comorbidity among HIV seropositive psychiatric patients in a tertiary centre in Nigeria and hence contribute to the existing (albeit scanty) knowledge base of NeuroAIDS in Africa. All patients presenting at the neuropsychiatry Out-patient Clinics and the Accident and Emergency department of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital between January 2003 and December 2005 were studied prospectively for neurological comorbidity and screened for HIV infection. One thousand six hundred and eleven psychiatric patients were seen and tested for HIV seropositivity over the study period. 61(3.8%) were found to be positive for HIV I and/or II. 31 (50.8%) had no neurological deficit, 29(46.0%) had acute/subacute encephalitis, 13 (21.3%) had peripheral neuropathies, 7 (11.5%) each had Cranial nerve palsies (I, V, VII), dysarthria /aphasia, AIDS dementia complex and epilepsy, 6 (9.8%) each had diffuse headache, meningism and amnestic syndrome, 4 (6.8%) had hemiparesis/hemiplegia, while 3 (4.9%) each had severe hemicranial headache and myopathy. There is a high incidence of neurological comorbidity among psychiatric patients with HIV infection. Mental health practitioners need to be alert to this possibility especially where life threatening conditions exist. In most African countries, economic and medical resources are less than adequate to deal with a problem of this magnitude.
P.C. Stanley , E.G. Asekomeh and C.N. Stanley , 2007. Pattern of Neurological Disorders among HIV Seropositive Adult Nigerians with Psychiatric Moridity. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 1: 219-222.