Clinical analysis of the first consecutive 145 cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Mallolas, J.; Latorre, X.; Gatell, J.M.; Miró, J.M.; Francés, A.; Mariscal, D.; Soriano, E.
Medicina Clinica 91(19): 721-724
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-7753 PMID: 3236914 Document Number: 319446
The clinical features of the first consecutive 145 cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in adults diagnosed at the Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, are analyzed. For the diagnosis of AIDS the criteria from the CDC of August, 1987, were used. One hundred and twenty six were males and 16 were females; mean age was 32 years, ranging from 17 and 59 years; 84 were narcotic addicts, 50 were homosexuals or bisexuals, 5 were hemophiliacs, 3 homosexual addicts, 1 was the sexual partner of a seropositive hemophiliac, 1 had been born in Africa, and 1 did not belong to any apparent risk group. The most common presentation was an opportunist infection (82%), followed by Kaposi sarcoma (11%) (all in homosexuals). In five patients the presenting feature was a lymphoma. The organisms causing the opportunistic infections were distributed in the following way: 52 Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 36 Pneumocystis carinii, 13 Toxoplasma gondii, 4 Candida albicans, 6 Isospora belli, 4 Cryptosporidium, 3 Papovavirus, 3 Cytomegalovirus, and 2 Cryptococcus neoformans. Overall 58 patients have already died, and the actuarial survival probability of these 145 cases was 50% after 15 months. In conclusion, about two thirds of AIDS patients were parenteral drug abusers, the most common presentations were opportunistic infections (particularly tuberculosis and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) and the overall mortality rate was very high.