Effect of antiretroviral treatments in oral manifestations of HIV+ Patients

We evaluate the effects of antiretroviral treatments in HIV seropositive patients, who were seen in the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in the Vall D́Hebron Hospital, Barcelona. 90 patients were seen, 51 males (56.7%) and 39 females (43.3%), the mean age of the patients was 36.2 years with a deviation of ±17.8, and a mode of 35 years. The visits were carried out between January and December 1999. These patients were receiving antiretroviral treatment with one or more drugs and some of them (32.2%) were subjected to high activity antiretroviral treatment (HAART). Also, in these patients the CD4 count and bimodal viral load was measured, at the start of the disease process and at the time of visit. Theoral cavity was examined at this time, in search of lesions associated with AIDS according to the classification by Pindborg et al, 1989. The most prevalent pathology found in this study was the sensation of dry mouth or xerostomia in 47.8%, followed by, in order of frequency, multiple caries (34.4%) and erythematous candidiasis (31.1%). Other oral manifestations are very rare, in comparison with the results of other authors in the time before the use of protease inhibitors (PI). There is, for example, only one case of leukoplakia, so characteristic before 1996.