[Long term survival in an HIV-immunosuppressed patient treated with foscarnet].

An HIV-infected woman with a CD4+ T-cell count below 100 x 10(6)/l survived for longer than 4 years of being diagnosed of AIDS, with acceptable health status (Karnofsky > 80%). Administration of foscarnet during two years, recommended as suppressive therapy for a previous cytomegalovirus retinitis, might have caused a sustained reduction in plasma HIV-RNA, contributing to her long-term survival.

[Colony-stimulating factors and HIV-related neoplasms].

Objective: it is analyzed a group of patients with HIV related malignancy treated with myelosuppressive therapy with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to study the efficacy of hematopoietic growth factors in these subjects.

Patients And Methods: it was studied the clinical and hematological evolution of 20 patients with HIV related malignancy treated with standard dose of chemotherapy and 5 micrograms/Kg/day of G-CSF starting 24 hours after the completion of chemotherapy administration. It was done an epidemiological study and was determined haemoglobin level, and the number of leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, CD4+ lymphocytes and platelets before and after the chemotherapy administration.

Switching from zidovudine to didanosine in patients with symptomatic HIV infection and disease progression. ddI Iberian Study Group.

This study evaluated the efficacy of switching to didanosine in patients who were clinically or immunologically progressing despite zidovudine therapy. This multicenter, open-label study involved 400 patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex (ARC), who had tolerated zidovudine for at least 12 weeks and had signs of clinical or immunological disease progression. They were randomly assigned to receive 600 mg/d of zidovudine (n=133), 500 mg/d of didanosine (n=131), or 200 mg/d of didanosine (n=136).

Epidemiology of HIV-2 infection in Spain. The HIV-2 Spanish Study Group.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection is endemic in West Africa, where it is responsible for many cases of AIDS. HIV-2-infected subjects have been described in other countries, mainly African immigrants, although infection in native individuals has been reported as well. The first cases of HIV-2 infection in Spain were identified in 1988.

[The treatment of chronic hepatitis C with interferon in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. The Spanish Group for the Study of Viral Hepatitis in HIV+ Patients].

Background: Alfa-interferon (aIFN) is widely recommended for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is very common in injecting drug users (IDUs), which in Spain represent the large number of HIV-infected persons. Interaction between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HCV in coinfected patients might accelerate the clinical course of HCV-associated liver disease.

Epidemiology of HTLV-I infection in Spain. HTLV Spanish Study Group.

Background: The human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) has been implicated in the genesis of tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP), adult T-cell lymphoma (ATL), and some cases of uveitis, subacute arthropathies, chronic dermatitis and lymphocytic alveolitis. The virus is endemic in some areas of the Caribbean basin, Japan, subSaharan Africa, Central and South America, Middle East and Melanesia. Given that HTLV-I is transmitted through similar ways to HIV, screening in blood donors is recommended in some countries.

[Characteristics of chronic delta hepatitis in patients wih HIV infection].

Background: Hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) induces severe liver disease in HBsAg carriers. In regions such as Spain, drug addicts make-up a large part of the HIV-positive population and they are at risk of HDV infection. Natural history of chronic hepatitis D is not well known in HIV-infected patients.

[Gastrointestinal disease due to cytomegalovirus in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus].

Objective: To describe all the clinical settings, endoscopic findings and response to therapy in a series of HIV-positive patients with biopsy proven gastrointestinal CMV disease.

Patients: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all HIV-infected patients who underwent digestive endoscopies at our Hospital from June 1990 to October 1993.

Results: Twelve (7.

[Rapid progression to AIDS in a patient with infection from a strain of syncytium forming HIV-1].

A woman who had recently become infected with HIV-1 after sexual relations with a seropositive subject presented a rapid fall in CD4+ T lymphocytes and evolved to AIDS 13 months after primoinfection. The most plausible cause for the rapid disease progression in this patient was the observation of a viral syncytium forming phenotype. The plasmatic viremia was high throughout the follow up despite the administration of antiretroviral drugs.

[Morbidity and mortality associated with chronic viral hepatopathy in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus].

Background: Hepatitis B, C and D virus infection is frequent in HIV-infected individuals, particularly in drug addicts. However, chronic liver disease of viral etiology has been little studied in AIDS.

Methods: The impact of infection by hepatotropic viruses on hospital morbidity/mortality was analyzed in a group of HIV positive (HIV+) patients over the period from October 1991 to April 1994.

Changes in survival over time after a first episode of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia for European patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Multicentre Study Group on AIDS in Europe.

Background: Factors associated with improved survival over time for patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) who have Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at diagnosis are not clearly defined.

Methods: An inception cohort of 2533 patients with AIDS, diagnosed from 1979 to 1989, from 52 centers in 17 European countries was studied. Survival 3 months and 3 years after diagnosis was estimated by Kaplan-Meier life tables.