Study population
A total of 300 plasma/CSF paired VL from 282 participants met the
eligibility criteria. Demographic and HIV-related characteristics of the
study population are described in Tab.1. Participants were mostly male
(67.0%), with a median age of 49 years. Plasma and CSF VL
were<50 cp/mL in 202 (67.3%) and 195 (65.0%) participants.
Current CD4+ T-cell count was 310 cells/µL with a high prevalence of
subjects with nadir CD4+ T-cell count below 200 (75.7%; Tab.1). The
median duration of any ART was 5 years (30.7% started ART within 2
years) and of current ART was 19 months. ART consisted of standard
NRTI-backbone-based triple regimens in 74.7% and less conventional
regimens in 25.3% of the cases (three different ARVs classes, dual
therapy, monotherapy and ≥4 drugs; see Suppl.Tab.1); 36.7% of
participants were on their first ART regimen. Participants underwent LP
in 16.7% of cases due to enrollment in prospective studies involving
HIV infection of CNS with no CNS confounding or neurological signs or
symptoms, in 46.7% due to clinical indications without eventual CNS
involvement (to rule out CNS infections/disorders, due to complaints of
neurological signs or symptoms, or due to perypheral lymphomas without
meningeal/CNS involvement) and in 36.6% due to self-reported or
objectified neurocognitive impairment; no differences in LP indications
was observed between participants with and without CVE (Tab.1).