Prospective comparative study of HCV serological status in an AIDS population

OBJECTIVE: Study the influence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) serology on the c ourse of HIV disease in AIDS patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective study of survival prognosis in HIV infe cted patients who had reached the AIDS stage was conducted in the Saint-Eti enne, Clermond-Ferrand and Lyons infectious disease centers to compare pati ents with positive and negative HCV serology. Data were collected using the clinico-epidemiological software DMI II. The effect of HCV ico-infectioni defined by RIBA II or III confirmed seropositivity, was studied using Kapla n-Meier survival plots. RESULTS: Among the 1,005 HIV-infected subjects included in the study, 219 h ad AIDS and 43 of them (19.6%) were HCV positive. Survival curves in HIV/HC V positive patients with AIDS were not significantly different from those o f HCV-negative AIDS patient (median 17.8 versus 18.6 months respectively, p = 0.93). This result was confirmed by univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis. On ly 2 patients were treated with interferon and no deaths were attributed to liver disease. CONCLUSION: HCV positivity in AIDS patients does not appear to influence su rvival. The longer survival obtained with the new anti-retroviral treatment s may have an effect on the HIV-HCV interaction.