Report of a false-positive HIV test result and the potential use of additional tests in establishing HIV serostatus

Considering the lifelong implications of a positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test result, physicians should be aware of the limitations of t ests for HIV. A 43-year-old man had a reactive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and an indeterminate result on Western blot analysis. The results of subsequent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot tests were in terpreted as positive, and the patient was informed that he had HIV infecti on. Persistently undetectable plasma HIV-1 RNA, combined with normal physic al examination findings, CD4(+) cell count, and CD4/CD8 ratio, prompted fur ther testing, which revealed that the patient was not infected with HIV. Fa lse-positive HIV test results are uncommon, but they can occur. In the appr opriate clinical setting, follow-up and the use of other laboratory tests, such as determination of plasma viral load, may help identify such cases.