[Prevalence of rheumatic manifestations in human immunodeficiency virus infection].

Unlabelled: Various rheumatic manifestations have been reported in HIV infected patients, but the prevalence of these manifestations is not well known. Therefore, we have designed a prospective study to define the rheumatic manifestations in those patients.

Methods: 121 patients (stage IV of CDC classification) were assessed by physical examination and biological tests.

Results: arthralgia was found in 12.4%; painful articular syndrome occurred in 4.1%; arthritis was present in 6.6%; out of 8 cases of arthritis, only 2 had spondylarthropathy. The articular manifestations were mostly oligo- or polyarticular, rarely invalidating, sometimes recurrent. No septic arthritis, no myositis and only 1 case of vasculitis was found. Raynaud's phenomenon prevalence was 17.4%, 43% of which appeared after HIV seropositivity was known. Lacrymal hyposecretion assessed by Schirmer's test was found in 49.6%. However, this did not prove the existence of a Sjogren's syndrome as no histological examination was performed. Back pain reached 38.6%. Sciatic neuralgias were noted in 17.6%. Biological and immunological results were unspecific. Low levels of antinuclear antibodies were found in 11.1% cases. They were more frequently found when articular manifestations existed. A higher level of CD8 lymphocytes was also noted when articular manifestations were present. No statistical link existed between the different rheumatic manifestations.

Conclusion: our results show that the prevalence of rheumatic manifestations in HIV infection is slightly increased (24.7%). This study is the first to emphasize the frequency of Raynaud's phenomenon and lacrymal hyposecretion in HIV patients.