Musculoskeletal manifestations in pediatric patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: Developing country perspective.

Objective: Musculoskeletal manifestations in children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are responsible for increased morbidity and decreased quality of life. Even in this era of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), there are limited studies on different rheumatological manifestations in pediatric patients with HIV, and the spectrum of musculoskeletal manifestation in pediatric HIV is yet to be established.

Methods: A single-center, prospective, observational study was carried out from October 2014 to September 2016 in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India with 517 children infected with HIV aged between 3 and 19 years. Particulars of musculoskeletal involvement were at first screened with pediatric gait, arm, leg, spine (pGALS) screening protocol, followed by detailed examination in patients identified through screening. All the participants were re-examined at three and six months of follow-up.

Results: Musculoskeletal manifestations were found in 11.2% of the study population. The most common non-infective manifestation found in the study population was arthralgia (5.22%), followed by myalgia (3.29%). The prevalence of definite arthritis was found to be 6/1000 children, whereas infective manifestations (including arthritis, myositis, and osteomyelitis) were found in 2.12% of study population. Musculoskeletal manifestations were commonly found in children infected with HIV who were on anti-retroviral drugs. These manifestations were found commonly in the children in the second decade of their lives. Malnutrition, advanced stage of HIV infection (WHO clinical stage 4), lower CD4 count at the time of evaluation, and longer duration of disease were associated with increased frequency of musculoskeletal manifestations.

Conclusion: Musculoskeletal manifestations are frequent in pediatric population infected with HIV. But for better delineation, further multicentric studies are warranted in future in children infected with HIV.