Improved Survival of HIV Patients in ICUs

A study has found that HIV patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) today have a survival rate that is more than double the rate in 1981-1985 (71% vs 35%). The study was published in the August 2002 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The improved rate has been especially notable in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), say researchers at San Francisco General Hospital (CA, USA) who conducted the study. Of a group of 295 HIV-infected patients admitted to the ICU in the hospital from 1996-1999, 89 were receiving HAART upon admission. Following admission, the median long-term survival time for all subjects in the study was found to be 324 days.

For those on HAART at the time of admission who were admitted with a non-AIDS-associated diagnosis, long-term survival was 971 days. For those in this group not on HAART, the long-term survival was 728 days. In patients with an AIDS-associated diagnosis, survival was 30 days for HAART patients and 26 days for those not on HAART.




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