PERSISTENT ARTHRALGIA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH HIV-INFECTION IN RWANDA

A prospective study of persistent arthralgia was carried out on 331 co nsecutive female patients admitted to the Department of Internal Medic ine of the Centre Hospitalier de Kigali in Kigali, Rwanda. The aim of this study was to determine its association with HIV-1 infection and t o describe its clinical characteristics. Ten additional HIV-1-seroposi tive patients with this condition attending the outpatient clinic were also included in the clinical study. Persistent arthralgia was signif icantly more common in HIV-1-seropositive hospitalized patients (14 of 209, 6.7%) than in HIV-1-seronegative hospitalized patients (one of 1 22, 0.8%; p = 0.02) and had a specificity and a positive predictive va lue for HIV-1 infection of 99.1% and 93.3%, respectively. HIV-1-relate d persistent arthralgia, studied in 24 patients in early as well as la te stages of HIV-1 infection, commonly affected several and mainly lar ge joints, was mostly distributed symmetrically, and was usually relie ved with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Recurrencies were noted in eight patients. In areas highly endemic for HIV-1, persistent arthr algia should be considered a probable manifestation of HIV-1 infection , and although it is uncommon, it can be regarded as a predictor of HI V-1 infection.