[Hospital morbidity in HIV infected patients]

With the increasing life expectancy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients since the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), other underlying comorbilities such as chronic liver pathology, cardiovascular diseases or side effects of treatment may lead to hospitalization. The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of these patients.

A descriptive-retrospective study. We reviewed the clinical records of patients with HIV infection admitted in our medical departments through a year.

There were 125 hospitalizations of 82 patients. 77% were males and 71% had hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The median age was 42 years. 64% HIV infection had been acquired by sharing material for intravenous drug use. A 36% were receiving HAART and 51% had AIDS. The respiratory tract pathology (32%) and AIDS-defining illnesses (22%) were the most frequent causes of hospitalization, and the main opportunistic disease was tuberculosis (TBC). Ten per cent were admitted in the Intensive Care Unit. Mortality rate was 11% patients/year.

Most of the patients were male, drug users and HCV positive, and the admissions to hospital were mostly due to respiratory patology and opportunistic diseases. TBC remains like the most frequent AIDS-defining illness.