No abstract

No abstract

In a randomized double-blind longitudinal study with 30 HIV-1-positive patients with AIDS-related complex or stage Walter-Reed 5 disease, the effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) was tested for correcting eventual immune dysregulation. Although the IVIG-treated patients showed an improvement of their clinical score, no significant changes were observed in lymphocyte phenotypes, activation markers, immunoglobulins and subclasses, lymphocyte turnover or in indicators of acute inflammation. Since severe bacterial infections or autoimmune processes usually leading to IVIG therapy were not prevalent in the patients of the study, such therapy should probably be reserved for later stages of the disease. HIV-1 antigen expression in blood lymphocytes remained uninfluenced by IVIG treatment.

Using optimal equipment and an adequate examination technique, renal venous DSA for renal artery stenosis is today a diagnostic procedure in 98% of cases. Its sensitivity equals 85%, its specificity reaches 95%. Comparing accuracies and positive predictive values, renal venous DSA is superior to radionuclide studies. Pre-selection of patients with captopril as a pharmacologic test is expected to increase the predictive values of renal venous DSA and to confirm the hemodynamic significance of an angiographically detected renal artery stenosis.