CLINICAL, HAEMATOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROFILE OF HIV PATIENTS PRIOR TO ANTI RETROVIRAL THERAPY IN A RURAL TERITIARY CARE CENTRE OF SOUTH INDIA
Poornima. H* and Jithin Raj. P
ABSTRACT
Background: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) affects all systems in our body. WHO has divided this infection into 4 classes. Another important marker for disease progression is CD4 count. Purpose of the study is to find out the clinical, hematological and biochemical profiles of HIV patients who are not started on Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) yet and the correlation with the WHO stage and CD4 count. Method: 100 patients of age 13 years or above who attended ART centre or medicine wards of a tertiary care centre in south India with HIV infection were included in the study prior to initiation of ART. Duration of the study was 1 year. Fasting blood sample was sent for complete blood count, sodium, potassium, blood sugar, cholesterol, triglyceride and albumin estimation. Results: Among the hematologic abnormalities, only anemia revealed a statistically significant correlation with WHO staging. Biochemical abnormalities which included hyponatremia, hypokalemia, elevated fasting blood sugar, serum cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels also revealed statistically significant correlation with WHO staging. No hematological or biochemical abnormality was statistically correlated with CD4 count. Conclusion: All these hematological abnormalities are present in the advanced stage compared to early stage. So patients in the advanced stage should be screened for these complications.
Keywords: Human immunodeficiency virus, Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome, hematological abnormalities, biochemical profile.
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