Edwina Wright
Clinical posts from members and guests of the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) from various international medical and scientific conferences on HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexual health.
Cryptococcal Meningitis: topic de jour
Today was a good day for HIV Neurology with a themed discussion on advances in diagnosis and management of cryptococcal meningitis (Session 15). This included a review by Rolfes et al of the concordance between a new point-of-care assay for plasma- the lateral flow assay- and serum /CSF cryptococcal antigen and CSF culture. Overall the concordance was high - hence important early findings for a test that should prove promising in resource limited settings (Abstract 953).
Another presentation by Chang et al revealed that achieving CSF sterility prior to commencement of cART was significantly associated with decreased risk of neurological deterioration and decreased risk of mycological persistence or relapse at 24 weeks of cART therapy (Abstract 955). These data are important because cryptococcal meningitis remains a common AIDS illness in resource poor settings and because cryptococcal IRIS is a relatively common sequelae when cART is introduced. Lots of excellent posters today also with an emphasis on findings in early HIV infection.
Tomorrow we see sessions on ageing and neurocognitive impairment and on the natural history, markers and treatment of HIV neurological disease. Goodnight!