Identifying HIV patients with an unfavorable cardiovascular risk profile in the clinical practice: results from the SIMONE study.

Objective: To identify and characterize HIV-infected patients at higher cardiovascular risk in ordinary clinical settings.

Design: Multicenter, nationwide cross-sectional study.

Methods: Consecutive HIV-patients, attending scheduled visits at facilities involved in the Italian coordination group for the study of allergies and HIV infection (CISAI), were included between February and April, 2005.

Low incidence of hepatotoxicity in a cohort of HIV patients treated with lopinavir/ritonavir.

We describe the hepatotoxicity encountered in a cohort of HIV-positive patients treated with lopinavir/ritonavir. We used the database from the SCOLTA project, an on-line pharmacovigilance programme involving 25 Italian infectious disease centres. A total of 755 patients were followed, over a mean observation period of 16 months.

[Epidemiological, clinical and therapeutical aspects of HIV/HCV coinfection in a series of HIV seropositive Umbrian patients].

Because hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share common transmission pathways, HIV-HCV co-infection is frequent, involving about 40% of seropositive subjects particularly injection drug users and patients with hemophilia. We performed a retrospective analysis on clinical, epidemiological and therapeutical aspects in a population of HIV-HCV coinfected patients, observed in our Department during the period 2001-2003. Forty per cent of 404 observed patients had a co-infection; 90% of those were drug addicts and most (90.