The impact of revised PMTCT guidelines: a view from a public sector ARV clinic in Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: In April 2010, revised Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission guidelines were implemented in South Africa, advising fast-tracked lifelong highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) initiation at a higher CD4 count (≤350 cells per microliter). This study describes the impact of these changes on the management of pregnant women who initiated HAART at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all women who initiated HAART in pregnancy at the Tygerberg Hospital between January 2008 and December 2010.

Progression and persistence of low-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions in women living with human immunodeficiency virus.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the progression and persistence of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women.

Methods: Study participants for this retrospective cohort study were 1,720 women who had LSIL as their first abnormal Pap smear. A comparison of the survival of LSIL without progression to high-grade SIL as progression-free time and the survival of SIL without clearance of the lesion as persistence of SIL was done for women of HIV-positive, HIV-negative, or unknown status using the Kaplan-Meier method.