Prospective evaluation and follow-up of European patients with visceral leishmaniasis and HIV-1 coinfection in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

A prospective descriptive study was designed to determine the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the evolution of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in HIV-1 infected patients. Thirty-two patients were treated with meglumine antimoniate or amphotericin B in lipid formulations. Patients who had undergone previous HAART at study entry (n=17) continued with therapy while receiving treatment for VL. Patients who had never undergone HAART started it after VL treatment finished (n=15). Ten patients were lost to follow-up. All of the remaining patients (n=20) continued to receive HAART and were followed for an average of 441 days. Relapses were observed in 5 of 20 patients. These results indicate that HAART neither prevents the incidence of VL relapse nor modifies the clinical picture described in the pre-HAART era.