Mapping cerebellar degeneration in HIV/AIDS

Progressive brain atrophy in HIV/AIDS is associated with impaired psychomotor performance, perhaps partly reflecting cerebellar degeneration; yet little is known about how HIV/AIDS affects the cerebellum. We visualized the three-dimensional profile of atrophy in 19 HIV-positive patients (age: 42.9±8.3 years) versus 15 healthy controls (age: 38.5± 12.0 years). We localized consistent patterns of subregional atrophy with an image analysis method that automatically deforms each patient's scan, in three dimensions, to match a reference image. Atrophy was greatest in the posterior cerebellar vermis (14.9% deficit) and correlated with depression severity (P=0.009, corrected), but not with dementia, alcohol/substance abuse, CD4 + T-cell counts, or viral load. Profound cerebellar deficits in HIV/AIDS (P=0.007, corrected) were associated with depression, suggesting a surrogate disease marker for antiretroviral trials.