Protein S deficiency in HIV associated ischaemic stroke: an epiphenomenon of HIV infection.

The purpose of the study was to determine the relevance of protein S deficiency in HIV infected patients with ischaemic stroke. In total, 33 HIV positive patients with ischaemic stroke, previously described by us, were prospectively compared with control groups for occurrence of protein S deficiency. The control groups comprised an equal number of consecutive matched HIV positive and negative patients without and with stroke respectively. Data were analysed in contingency tables using Fisher's exact test. Protein S deficiency occurred significantly more frequently in HIV positive compared with HIV negative stroke patients (p < 0.001). However, by including HIV positive patients without stroke as a control group and comparing this group with the HIV positive stroke group we found that protein S deficiency is statistically related to HIV infection and not stroke occurrence. Our data indicate that the presence of protein S deficiency in HIV positive patients with stroke is an epiphenomenon of HIV infection.