O006. Clinical features of paediatric HIV arthropathy

Background Advanced HIV infection is associated with an inflammatory arthritis, however few reports have described this disorder in children. This study aimed to describe the clinical features of HIV arthropathy in a case series of children in South Africa and compare these with features of JIA. Methods Retrospective data were collected from HIV-infected children with HIV arthropathy enrolled in a Paediatric Rheumatology clinic in Cape Town, South Africa. Data from a recently described, published cohort of children with JIA enrolled in the same clinic were included for comparison. Ethical approval was granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Cape Town, with a waiver for consent. Results Eleven cases of HIV arthropathy were identified. Cases predominantly affected boys (8/11), and the median age of onset was 10.3 years (IQR 6.9–11.6). Most cases presented in the setting of advanced immunosuppression, with a median absolute CD4+ count of 389 cells/uL (IQR 322–449) and median CD4+ proportion of 19.5% (IQR 14.8–25.0) at presentation. The clinical presentation was variable, with both oligoarthritis (6/11) and polyarthritis (5/11) being prevalent. All cases exhibited large joint involvement, which was usually asymmetrical. In addition, four children had asymmetrical small joint involvement. Associated features included enthesitis (4/11) and dactylitis (1/11). The most consistent laboratory feature was elevated acute phase reactants, and typical ultrasonographic findings were joint effusions and synovial hypertrophy. JIA and HIV arthropathy presented at a similar age, with median age at HIV arthritis onset of 10.3 years (IQR 6.9–11.6) versus 9.25 years (IQR 4.5–12.3) at arthritis onset in the JIA subgroup. HIV arthropathy cases were predominantly male (M/F ratio 3.0), whereas JIA cases had an equal sex distribution (M/F ratio 0.9). Oligo-articular disease was more frequently described in children with HIV arthropathy (55%), compared to those with JIA (38%). Conclusion In this series, most cases of HIV arthropathy exhibited asymmetrical large joint oligoarthritis or polyarthritis, and presented in older boys with advanced immunosuppression. HIV arthropathy appears to present at a similar age to JIA, with a comparable pattern of joint involvement to oligo-articular and poly-articular JIA subtypes.

Immunologic biomarkers, morbidity and mortality among HIV patients hospitalised in a Tertiary Care Hospital in the Brazilian Amazon

Background The irregular use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and late diagnosis still account for a large part of HIV-associated mortality in people living with HIV (PLHIV). Herein, we describe HIV-associated morbidity among hospitalised HIV/AIDS patients with advanced immunosuppression and assess the comorbidities, laboratory parameters, and immunological markers associated with mortality. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Fundação de Medicina Tropical Doutor Heitor Vieira Dourado (FMT-HVD) in Manaus, Brazil. In all, 83 participants aged between 12 and 70 years were enrolled by convenience within 72 h of their hospitalisation. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from electronic medical records. We prospectively measured the cytokines Th1/Th2/Th17 and inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-1β, and IL-12 using cytometric bead array, and the soluble CD14 using in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The HIV/AIDS inpatients presented a scenario of respiratory syndromes as the most prevalent comorbidity. Almost all patients had CD4 T counts below 350 cells/mL and the mortality rate was 20.5%. Pulmonary tuberculosis, neurotoxoplasmosis and oropharyngeal–esophageal candidiasis were the most prevalent opportunistic infections. TB and weight loss were more prevalent in HIV/AIDS inpatients who died. The Mann Whitney analysis showed that those who died had higher platelet distribution width (PDW) on admission, which is suggestive for platelet activation. The Poisson multivariate analysis showed the prevalence of TB, digestive syndrome and increases in IL-8 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) associated to death. Conclusions The advanced immunosuppression characterized by the opportunistic infections presented in these HIV/AIDS inpatients was the major factor of mortality. The role of platelet activation in worse outcomes of hospitalisation and the IL-8 associated with the context of advanced immunosuppression may be promising markers in the prediction of mortality in HIV/AIDS patients.

The Xpert® MTB/RIF diagnostic test for pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients: Benefits and experiences over 2 years in different clinical contexts

Xpert® MTB/RIF has been widely used for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in Brazil, since 2014. This prospective observational study aimed to evaluate the performance of Xpert in different contexts during a two-year period: (i) laboratory and clinical/epidemiological diagnosis; (ii) HIV-positive and -negative populations; (iii) type of specimens: pulmonary and extrapulmonary. Overall, 924 specimens from 743 patients were evaluated. The performance of the assays was evaluated considering culture (Lowenstein Jensen or LJ medium) results and composite reference standard (CRS) classification as gold standard. According to CRS evaluation, 219 cases (29.5%) were classified as positive cases, 157 (21.1%) as ‘possible TB’, and 367 (49.3%) as ‘not TB’. Based on culture, Xpert and AFB smear achieved a sensitivity of 96% and 62%, respectively, while based on CRS, the sensitivities of Xpert, AFB smear, and culture were 40.7%, 20%, and 25%, respectively. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of Xpert were 96% and 94%, respectively. Metric evaluations were similar between pulmonary and extrapulmonary samples against culture, whereas compared to CRS, the sensitivities were 44.6% and 29.3% for the pulmonary and extrapulmonary cases, respectively. The Xpert detected 42/69 (60.9%) patients with confirmed TB and negative culture on LJ medium, and 52/69 (75.4%) patients with negative AFB smear results. There was no significant difference in the diagnostic accuracy based on the types of specimens and population (positive- and negative-HIV). Molecular testing detected 13 cases of TB in culture-negative patients with severe immunosuppression. Resistance to rifampicin was detected in seven samples. Herein, Xpert showed improved detection of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB cases, both among HIV-positive and -negative patients, even in cases with advanced immunosuppression, thereby performing better than multiple other diagnostic parameters.

“I’ve been rashed and confused”: Part 1

Patients with advanced immunosuppression from AIDS can have a wide variety of causes of diminished alertness (delirium). Diagnostic considerations include results from neuroimaging to rule-out space occupying lesions and permit CSF examination. Presence or absence of other imaging findings especially on MRI of white matter changes, enhancement, or ventriculitis. Serologic testing can be helpful especially in excluding neurosyphilis and cryptococcal disease. Presence of findings outside the CNS (e.g. the lungs, bone marrow, or eyes) can also provide important clues.

“Myocardial inflammatory changes before and after antiretroviral therapy initiation in people with advanced HIV disease”

Because high frequency and late presentation of HIV disease in our population, we decided to explore the presence of myocarditis among people with HIV-infection and advanced immunosuppression (less than 200 CD4+ cells/μL), and to describe the inflammatory changes observed after combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation in an observational, longitudinal, prospective cohort performing cardiovascular MRI (cMRI) and doppler trans-thoracic echocardiogram (TTE).

HIV in low- and middle-income countries

The HIV pandemic has disproportionately affected people in low- and middle-income countries. In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, HIV infection is established in the general population: in southern Africa, which is particularly severely affected, adult HIV prevalence has reached 30% in some areas. Local epidemiology depends on the balance between incidence (due to sexual contact, mother-to-child transmission, or exposure to blood or blood products) and mortality, and the effect of antiretroviral therapy on both mortality and transmission. The main route of transmission is sex between men and women. The manifestations of HIV disease vary by geographical region, reflecting increased frequency of exposure in low- and middle-income countries to common pathogens such as tuberculosis, non-typhoid salmonellae, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. People with advanced immunosuppression are also at risk of disease due to geographically restricted opportunistic pathogens (e.g. leishmania and Tarolomyces marneffei).

HIV-associated vacuolar myelopathy: A rare initial presentation of HIV

HIV-associated vacuolar myelopathy, or AIDS-associated myelopathy, is a rare initial presentation of HIV. One of the common HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, HIV-associated vacuolar myelopathy presents with advanced immunosuppression in patients and is frequently associated with dementia. However, most cases are subclinical with characteristic findings identified through physical examination and/or imaging modalities. HIV-associated vacuolar myelopathy is characterized by progressive spastic paraparesis, gait disturbance and lower extremity sensory abnormalities including vibratory sensation. Magnetic resonance imaging findings in the spinal cord are abnormal in some patients with HIV-associated myelopathy, characteristically showing spinal cord atrophy at the level of the thoracic spine, but they may also be normal. Unfamiliarity with this as initial presentation of HIV infection may lead to failure to diagnose and intervene appropriately. We present a case of newly diagnosed HIV with myelopathy and dementia with minimal spinal cord involvement on magnetic resonance imaging.