Thoracic Surgery in Patients with AIDS.

The picture of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients has changed dramatically since the original description in 1981. The introduction of antiretroviral drugs in 1987 and combination antiretroviral therapy has decreased mortality by as much as 80%. We now see patients in their 60s and 70s, having lived decades with HIV and living a normal live. As outlined in the article, despite good viral control, patients with HIV may present with solid organ cancers earlier than noninfected patients and are also prone to other complications of their disease that may require the attention of a thoracic surgeon.