Since 1985 a physical and instrumental cardiac study was carried out in 41 children with perinatal HIV-1 infection in order to assess the prevalence and natural history of cardiac involvement. Children were followed for 66 (range 8-109) months; eight of 41 died of HIV-1 related diseases. The cumulative proportion of children with cardiac manifestations at age of seven years was 14.9% (95% CI: 4.9-31.5%). Cardiac abnormalities were detected in eight of 41 patients (19.5%) and were more significantly (p=0.003) recorded in children who died of HIV-1 related diseases (five of eight, 62.5%). Left ventricular systolic function was normal in most patients during the follow-up and did not depend on zidovudine treatment. Two patients had a severe dilated cardiomyopathy and underwent subsequently a stable regression as far as the clinical and instrumental frame was concerned. Only one patient died because of cardiac disease. We conclude that in our group ofperinatally HIV- 1 infected children, cardiac involvement is relatively rare, represents a late complication compared to other related HIV-1 diseases and occurs in advanced stages of illness. Cardiac disease is therefore a hallmark of poor prognosis, but is rarely the ultimate cause of death.

We evaluated neurocognitive function in 149 HIV-seropositive and 82 seronegative women enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), a large multi-center study of disease progression in women living with HIV/AIDS. We evaluated the prevalence of abnormal neuropsychological (NP) test findings in HIV-seropositive and seronegative women and factors associated with increased risk of abnormal NP test performance. Risk of NP impairment was no higher for HIV positive women receiving antiretroviral therapy at testing than for HIV-negative women (OR = 1.00). However, the risk of abnormal NP performance increased significantly for seropositive women not receiving antiretroviral therapy (OR = 2.43). Further, treatment status was a significant predictor of NP impairment in a multivariate analysis that included viral load (OR = 1.48) and CD4 count (OR = 1.08) which were not significant. The multivariate analyses controlled for substance use, age, education, head injury, ethnicity, estimated IQ, and psychological distress. This study emphasizes the critical association of antiretroviral therapy with the risk of neurocognitive impairment in women living with HIV/AIDS. (JINS, 2002, 8, 781–793.)

Computerized reaction time (RT) tasks are sensitive measures of subclinical HIV-related mental slowing. We previously reported that nondemented HIV-seropositive patients on antiretroviral therapy at the time of testing had faster choice RTs compared to matched untreated seropositive participants. In the present study, we evaluated the performance of 163 nondemented HIV-seropositive participants on a reaction time version of the Stroop task as a function of antiretroviral status. Persons on antiretroviral therapy at the time of testing had significantly faster reaction times than untreated individuals, although treated asymptomatic participants showed significantly less Stroop interference than treated symptomatic participants. These effects could not be attributed to differences in demographic variables, disease status, substance abuse, or psychological distress. These data indicate that central information processing is faster for patients treated with antiretroviral compounds compared to untreated patients, and suggest that reaction time tasks may have significant potential utility in clinical trials of neuroprotective compounds. (JINS, 1998, 4, 329–335.)