Abstract: Objective To explore the risk factors of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) complicated with cryptococcal meningitis (CNM) death, and combined exploring nursing countermeasures in the process of clinical diagnosis and treatment, for the optimization of clinical diagnosis and treatment and nursing intervention measures to improve the reference to reduce the mortality. Method From January 2012 to December 2020, 57 AIDS patients with CNM deaths were admitted, and their clinical and nursing-related data were retrospectively analyzed, including HIV infection pathways, clinical manifestations, complications, and laboratory test result. Result Among 57 AIDS patients, 24 cases (42.1%) died within 1 month of hospitalization, and the median death time was 14 days. There were 49 cases of headache (86.0%), 40 cases of fever (70.2%), 36 cases (63.2%) of vomiting, 20 cases (35.1%) of consciousness disorder and 13 cases (22.8%) of vision loss. Fifty-three cases (93.0%) complicated with lung infection. There was increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure (≥180mmH₂O) in 48 cases (84.2%), decreased hemoglobin content (<90g/L) in 31 cases (54.4%), and decreased blood potassium concentration (<3.5mmol/L) in 53 cases (93.0%). Decreased count of CD4⁺T lymphocytes (<100cells/μl) was detected in 56 cases (98.2%). Conclusion The clinical manifestations of AIDS patients with CNM are complex, and the disturbance of consciousness, pulmonary infection, cerebrospinal fluid pressure, low blood potassium and low CD4⁺T lymphocyte count are important clinical manifestations for death of AIDS patients with CNM. Medical staff should improve the understanding of this disease, strengthen monitoring and care, and detect and deal with various complications in time, so as to reduce the mortality rate.

Key words: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis, Risk factors, Nursing