PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF ORAL CANDIDOSIS AND HAIRY LEUKOPLAKIA IN 111 MEXICAN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS

A follow-up study was carried out to evaluate the prognostic value of hairy leukoplakia (HL) and oral candidosis (OC) in a cohort of 111 asy mptomatic Mexican HIV infected patients. Oral exams were performed at baseline and every 6 months, from September 1989 to March 1994. Chi-sq uare contingency table test, the Kruskall-Wallis one-way analysis of v ariance, the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method and the log rank test w ere used for the analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox's proportio nal hazards analysis were also performed. Fifty-four patients (51%) pr ogressed to AIDS (initially 36 CDC-II and 18 CDC-III). Individuals wit h HL and/or OC, showed faster development to AIDS than subjects withou t lesions or other HIV-related manifestations (P=0.008). The presence of OC, HL or both always remained significant despite adjustment for t otal lymphocytes, CDC stage, zidovudine therapy or its combinations. O ral lesions in HIV infection may be regarded with other clinical and l aboratory studies as markers of HIV disease progression and as indicat ors to begin antiretroviral treatment.