Lack of change in the distribution of AIDS-defining opportunistic diseasesand the related degree of immunodeficiency during the periods before and after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy

In a retrospective study of 86 patients with AIDS-defining diseases diagnos ed from 1997 to June 2000, i.e, following consolidated and large-scale intr oduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and 342 control p atients diagnosed with AIDS from 1985 to 1995, i.e. the decade preceding th e HAART era, the etiological spectrum and the related level of immunodefici ency of each individual AIDS-defining opportunistic infection were compared . The results show that. despite the progress attained in the management of HIV infection since the introduction of HAART, clinicians facing newly dia gnosed cases of AIDS will likely encounter a spectrum of opportunistic dise ases and a level of underlying immunodeficiency similar to those observed d uring the decade preceding the introduction of HAART. Even in recent years, the large majority of patients newly diagnosed with AIDS have not been abl e to take advantage of HAART prior to diagnosis of their disease.