[AIDS and HIV infections in urologic practice]

The infection caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), a retrovirus, leads to a progressive decline and to the suppression of cell-mediated immunity favouring the development of opportunistic diseases and potentially fatal neoplasias which are practically innocuous in individuals with an intact immunologic system. The number of AIDS cases recorded in Spain until March 1997 was 45,132, with a revised mortality rate of 58%. Cases in Murcia total 713 up to October 1997, of which 217 patients are being monitored in the AIDS Unit in our centre, 414 individuals have died in the region. It is well know that about one third of patients with diagnosed AIDS or who are HIV carriers will develop some type of genitourinary lesion, either as a result of a renal disorder, concurrent or not with HIV, or any other condition directly related to the infection. This is a report on our Service's experience in the treatment of HIV patients with genitourinary symptoms that, in a total of 15 cases, required our intervention. Emphasis is placed on the incidence of nephrolithiasis secondary to therapy with protease inhibitors over the last few months following introduction of this new therapeutic tool, prostatitis due to salmonella, and inlaid cystitis among others.