Spectrum of opportunistic infections and malignancies in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection in South Korea

To determine the frequency and types of major opportunistic diseases in pat ients with HIV infection in South Korea, we reviewed the medical records of 173 HIV-infected patients. The patients were seen from 1985 to 1998 at a r eferral hospital for AIDS in South Korea. Most patients (85%) were male, an d 107 (62%) were infected by heterosexual contacts, CD4(+) lymphocyte count s at presentation were <200/mu L in 27% of the patients. Tuberculosis was t he mast frequent opportunistic infection (25% of patients), followed by can didiasis (21%), herpes tester (20%), Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (10%), cytomegalovirus disease (98%). There were no cases of toxoplasmosis, Kaposi 's sarcoma developed in 3 patients (1.7%), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, in 2 (1.2%). Eleven patients (6.4%) developed peripheral neuropathy, and 8 (4.6 %) had HIV encephalopathy, Tuberculosis was the single most important HIV-r elated infection in South Korean patients.