TY - JOUR T1 - CD8+ encephalitis: a severe but treatable HIV-related acute encephalopathy JF - Practical Neurology JO - Pract Neurol DO - 10.1136/practneurol-2016-001483 SP - practneurol-2016-001483 AU - Angeliki Zarkali AU - Nikos Gorgoraptis AU - Robert Miller AU - Laurence John AU - Ashirwad Merve AU - Stefanie Thust AU - Rolf Jager AU - Dimitri Kullmann AU - Orlando Swayne Y1 - 2016/11/01 UR - http://pn.bmj.com/content/early/2016/11/01/practneurol-2016-001483.abstract N2 - Rapidly progressive encephalopathy in an HIV-positive patient presents a major diagnostic and management challenge. CD8+ encephalitis is a severe but treatable form of HIV-related acute encephalopathy, characterised by diffuse perivascular and intraparenchymal CD8+ lymphocytic infiltration. It can occur in patients who are apparently stable on antiretroviral treatment and probably results from viral escape into the central nervous system. Treatment, including high-dose corticosteroids, can give an excellent neurological outcome, even in people with severe encephalopathy and a very poor initial neurological status. We report a woman with CD8+ encephalitis, with a normal CD4 count and undetectable serum viral load, who made a good recovery despite the severity of her presentation. ER -