Mortality associated with mode of presentation in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome

A population-based survival study was done for all cases of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome diagnosed in the city of San Francisco through May 1983. Follow-up was obtained for 165 of 173 diagnosed cases. Median survival among 75 patients presenting with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) alone was 21 months. Median survival among 90 patients presenting with opportunistic infections, primarily Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, was 9 months; survival at 21 months was zero. Survival among patients presenting with both KS and opportunistic infections was not statistically different from survival among patients presenting with opportunistic infections only. When cases were divided into those diagnosed before and after May 1982, there was no significant improvement in survival from diagnosis in the more recently diagnosed cohort.