Socio-demographic and psycho-social determinants of HIV late presentation in Germany - results from the FindHIV study.

Delayed HIV diagnosis at advanced stages of disease remains common (33%-64%). This analysis of the multi-center FindHIV study including newly diagnosed HIV-infected adults in Germany, focused on the potential role of socio-demographic and psychological factors on late diagnosis (formerly "late presentation", AIDS diagnosis or CD4 cells <350/µL). These data were collected from patient profiles, physician-patient interviews and questionnaires.

Understanding and avoiding late presentation for HIV diagnosis - study protocol of a trial using mixed methods (FindHIV).

Many patients infected with HIV are diagnosed at an advanced stage of illness. These late presenters are individuals with a CD4 cell count of less than 350 cells/µL and/or an AIDS defining disease at initial HIV diagnosis. Purpose of FindHIV is to develop and distribute a questionnaire/scoring system aimed at a reduction in late presentation.

Similar long-term efficacy of dual therapy containing raltegravir and a boosted protease inhibitor versus standard triple therapies in pretreated HIV-1-infected patients in a retrospective, real-life cohort of 14 years.

Objectives: Raltegravir is used in many antiretroviral combinations, but its use in treatment-experienced patients without knowledge of baseline resistance is discussed controversially as a number of comparative studies have shown a higher rate of virological failure. However, it has been used frequently for the management of treatment failure, as it was the first integrase inhibitor to become available, and thus offered new options for patients with multiple resistance. The strategic use of raltegravir in this setting is examined in this study.

Anemia tolerance during normo-, hypo-, and hypervolemia.

Background: Restrictive intraoperative fluid management has been demonstrated to improve outcome of visceral and lung surgery in several studies. However, subsequent hypovolemia (HOV) may be accompanied by a decrease of anemia tolerance, resulting in increased transfusion needs. We therefore investigated the effect of volume status on anemia tolerance.

Influence of clonidine induced sympathicolysis on anaemia tolerance in anaesthetized pigs.

Background: Clonidine effectively decreases perioperative mortality by reducing sympathetic tone. However, application of clonidine might also restrict anaemia tolerance due to impairment of compensatory mechanisms. Therefore, the influence of clonidine induced, short-term sympathicolysis on anaemia tolerance was assessed in anaesthetized pigs.