CHANGES IN LYMPHOCYTE SUBSETS IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS-POSITIVE PERSONS WITH LESS-THAN-5 CD4 T-LYMPHOCYTES MM(3)/

All patients seen at the Royal Free Hospital, London, who had at least one CD4 T lymphocyte count of less-than 5 cells/mm(3) (n = 166) were prospectively followed to assess changes in their total T lymphocyte a nd CDS T lymphocyte counts over time. While overall there were no clea r trends towards a drop or increase in either count, persons who died during the study experienced a rapid drop in both CD8 T lymphocyte and total T lymphocyte levels in the months preceding death. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models revealed that both the total T Lympho cyte count and CD8 T lymphocyte count provided important prognostic in formation for survival. Despite almost a complete absence of CD4 T lym phocytes, lymphocyte subset monitoring is useful in identifying decrea sing CD8 T lymphocyte levels that predict short-term prognosis.