Cerebral aneurysmal dilatation in an infant with perinatally acquired HIV infection and HSV encephalitis

Although most children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have neurological dysfunction, in childhood the incidence of symptomatic cerebrovascular disease is low. Cerebral aneurysmal arteriopathy in childhood AIDS has been reported in the past and considered to have a relatively long latency following the primary infection. We report a 1 month-old infant with congenitally acquired HIV infection, and herpes encephalitis; she presented a sudden cardiorespiratory arrest followed by coma and was found to have a giant saccular aneurysm of the left basilar artery. Literature review showed that cerebral aneurysmal artheriopathy is an unusual manifestation in newborns and infants and this case is possibly the youngest patient reported with aneurysma, herpes encephalitis and AIDS. The role of HIV and herpes simplex infections in the pathogenesis of this lesion is discussed.