Stroke and seizures as the presenting signs of pediatric HIV infection.

The authors report two pediatric patients with definite human immunodeficiency virus infection whose initial presentation was stroke and seizure. The first patient was a 3-year-old female who developed acute hemiparesis as the first manifestation. The other, a 2-month-old infant, had focal seizures secondary to cerebral infarction. Investigations revealed ischemic infarction of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and internal capsule in the first patient and cerebral cortex in the second. Further investigations failed to demonstrate any other causes of these cerebral infarctions. Opportunistic infection of the central nervous system was not documented. The authors emphasize that cerebrovascular accident may be the initial presentation in human immunodeficiency virus infection in children. Human immunodeficiency virus infection must be included in the differential diagnosis, and testing for the disease is mandatory in the investigation of stroke in any child who is at risk of having this infection.