Cerebral aneurysmal arteriopathy in an adult patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

In adult patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), cerebral arteritis usually takes the form of arterial wall thickening, stenosis, and occlusion, leading to cerebral ischemia and infarction. Aneurysms and intracranial hemorrhage are much less commonly associated with cerebral vasculitis. For reasons not entirely clear, this form is seen more often in pediatric patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. We report an adult patient with cerebral aneurysmal arteriopathy who presented shortly after his AIDS-defining illness in a setting of severe immune suppression and high viral load.