PCR, clinical, and histopathological findings in HIV infected patients whose CSF was positive for HHV-6 DNA
| Patient | Sample | (days)1-150 | DNA PCR findings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSF HHV-6 (variant) | CSF CMV | Plasma HHV-6 (variant) | Plasma CMV | Antiherpes treatment (days) | CNS disease (diagnostic procedure) | CNS HHV-6 DNA PCR | |||
| 1 | a | (−210) | NA | NA | + (A) | + | Ganciclovir | CMV meningoencephalomyeloradiculitis | − |
| b | 0 | + (A) | + | NA | NA | (from−170 to+30) | HIV encephalopathy | ||
| c | (+5) | + (A) | + | + (A) | + | (clinical+necropsy) | |||
| d | (+14) | + (A) | + | NA | NA | ||||
| e | (+30) | + (A) | + | − | + | ||||
| 2 | a | 0 | + (ND) | + | + (B) | + | Ganciclovir | Toxoplasmosis, CMV encephalitis1-152 | + (ND)1-153 |
| b | (+12) | + (ND) | − | + (B) | + | (from+40 to+55) | (clinical+necropsy) | ||
| c | (+28) | + (B) | + | − | + | ||||
| d | (+55) | + (B) | − | − | + | ||||
| 3 | a | 0 | + (B) | − | − | − | None | Toxoplasmosis | NA |
| b | (+182) | + (B) | − | NA | NA | (clinical) | |||
| c | (+421) | + (B) | − | + (B) | + | ||||
| 4 | a1-151 | 0 | + (B) | + | + (B) | + | Ganciclovir | CMV meningoencephalitis | NA |
| b | (+5) | NA | NA | + (B) | + | (from−2 to+18) | (clinical) | ||
| c | (+24) | + (B) | − | NA | − | ||||
| 5 | a | 0 | + (A) | − | + (A) | + | Ganciclovir | Toxoplasmosis | NA |
| (from−50 to−10) | (clinical) | ||||||||
| 6 | a | (−98) | − | − | NA | NA | None | Toxoplasmosis (clinical+necropsy) | − |
| b | 0 | + (B) | − | NA | NA | PML (necropsy) | |||
| 7 | a | 0 | + (ND) | + | − | + | Ganciclovir | CMV encephalitis | NA |
| b | (+100) | − | + | − | + | (from−180 to+80) | (clinical) | ||
| 8 | a1-151 | 0 | + (ND) | + | − | + | None | Primary lymphoma (biopsy) | − |
| CMV encephalitis (clinical) | |||||||||
NA=sample not available; ND=HHV-6 variant not defined; +=positive, −=negative.
↵1-150 In parentheses: number of days before (−) or after (+) CSF sampling in concomitance to onset of neurological disease (0).
↵1-151 Varicella zoster virus (patient 4) or Epstein-Barr virus (patient 8) was also found in the CSF.
↵1-152 CMV was demonstrated in the same periventricular areas that were found to be HHV6 positive by PCR.
↵1-153 HHV-6 DNA was found in 5 of 13 sections, including cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and periventricular areas; no additional material was available for examination by the subtype PCR.