Implementation and operational research: Integrated pre-antiretroviral therapy screening and treatment for tuberculosis and cryptococcal antigenemia.

Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility of integrated screening for cryptococcal antigenemia and tuberculosis (TB) before antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and to assess disease specific and all-cause mortality in the first 6 months of follow-up.

Methods: We enrolled a cohort of HIV-infected, ART-naive adults with CD4 counts ≤250 cells per microliter in rural Uganda who were followed for 6 months after ART initiation. All subjects underwent screening for TB; those with CD4 ≤100 cells per microliter also had cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) screening.