Symptomatic cerebrospinal fluid HIV escape: a quantitative MR-based assessment

This study aimed at quantitatively assessing T1-weighted, FLAIR and DWI brain alterations in 14 patients with cerebrospinal fluid HIV escape (HIV-ESC) and 7 patients with untreated HIV encephalitis (HIV-ENC), versus 11 HIV patients without neurological problems and 12 HIV-negative controls. HIV-ESC and HIV-ENC patients showed significantly higher ADC in WM and GM and increased WM FLAIR signal than the other groups. In HIV-ESC patients, the heterogeneous GM volume was negatively correlated with MRI time from infection. WM FLAIR hyperintensity in HIV-ESC and HIV-ENC patients may reflect vasogenic edema, with mass effect depending on its degree and possible underlying brain atrophy.