Oral lesions and immune reconstitution syndrome in HIV+/AIDS patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy. Epidemiological evidence.

Objective: To determine whether opportunistic oral infections associated to HIV infection (OOI-HIV) are found in HIV+/AIDS patients with immune reconstitution related to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods: From among 1100 HIV+/AIDS patients (Service of Internal Medicine, Carlos Haya Hospital, Malaga, Spain) subjected to review of the oral cavity between January 1996 and May 2007, we identified those examined in 1996 and which were again examined between 1997 and 2007, and were moreover receiving HAART. The following data were collected: age, gender, form of contagion, antiretroviral therapy at the time of review, number of CD4+ lymphocytes/ml, and viral load (from 1997 onwards).