OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between CD4 count and the immediate hazard of dying in patients receiving zidovudine (azidothymidine [AZT])-based antiretroviral therapy. SETTING: A research hospital that recruits patients from the entire United States. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a cohort of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex participating in long-term zidovudine-based antiretroviral protocols. PATIENTS: Fifty-five patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and either AIDS or severe AIDS-related complex who were followed for as many as 4 years while they received antiretroviral therapy. MEASUREMENTS: CD4 counts were measured. MAIN RESULTS: Ten patients are known to be alive and 1 was lost to follow-up. Of the 44 patients who are known to have died, the CD4 range was known within 6 months of death in 41. All but 1 of these 41 assessable deaths occurred in patients whose CD4 counts were known to have fallen below 50 CD4 cells/mm3 (P less than 10(-10)). The hazard of dying in the cohort ranged from 0 deaths/patient-month (95% CI, 0 to 0.008 deaths/patient-month) in patients with 200 or more CD4 cells/mm3 to 0.07 deaths/patient-month (CI, 0.050 to 0.094 deaths/patient-month) in patients with fewer than 50 CD4 cells/mm3. For the patients who died and whose cases were assessable, the mean of the last three CD4 counts obtained before death was 7.7 CD4 cells/mm3 (CI, 0.9 to 63.3 cells/mm3). The median survival of patients once their CD4 counts fell below 50 CD4 cells/mm3 was 12.1 months (CI, 7.2 to 19.4 months). CONCLUSIONS: In a carefully followed cohort treated with zidovudine-based antiretroviral therapy, nearly all deaths occurred in patients with fewer than 50 CD4 cells/mm3. These findings may have implications in the monitoring of patients with AIDS and in the use of CD4 count as a clinical trials end point for the antiretroviral therapy of HIV infection.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between CD4 count and the immediate hazard of dying in patients receiving zidovudine (azidothymidine [AZT])-based antiretroviral therapy. SETTING: A research hospital that recruits patients from the entire United States. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a cohort of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex participating in long-term zidovudine-based antiretroviral protocols. PATIENTS: Fifty-five patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and either AIDS or severe AIDS-related complex who were followed for as many as 4 years while they received antiretroviral therapy. MEASUREMENTS: CD4 counts were measured. MAIN RESULTS: Ten patients are known to be alive and 1 was lost to follow-up. Of the 44 patients who are known to have died, the CD4 range was known within 6 months of death in 41. All but 1 of these 41 assessable deaths occurred in patients whose CD4 counts were known to have fallen below 50 CD4 cells/mm3 (P less than 10(-10)). The hazard of dying in the cohort ranged from 0 deaths/patient-month (95% CI, 0 to 0.008 deaths/patient-month) in patients with 200 or more CD4 cells/mm3 to 0.07 deaths/patient-month (CI, 0.050 to 0.094 deaths/patient-month) in patients with fewer than 50 CD4 cells/mm3. For the patients who died and whose cases were assessable, the mean of the last three CD4 counts obtained before death was 7.7 CD4 cells/mm3 (CI, 0.9 to 63.3 cells/mm3). The median survival of patients once their CD4 counts fell below 50 CD4 cells/mm3 was 12.1 months (CI, 7.2 to 19.4 months). CONCLUSIONS: In a carefully followed cohort treated with zidovudine-based antiretroviral therapy, nearly all deaths occurred in patients with fewer than 50 CD4 cells/mm3. These findings may have implications in the monitoring of patients with AIDS and in the use of CD4 count as a clinical trials end point for the antiretroviral therapy of HIV infection.
Authors: B Castelnuovo; E Chiesa; S Rusconi; F Adorni; M Bongiovanni; S Melzi; P Cicconi; F Tordato; L Meroni; T Bini; A d'Arminio Monforte Journal: Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis Date: 2003-10-21 Impact factor: 3.267
Authors: Amanda Mocroft; Jonathan A C Sterne; Matthias Egger; Margaret May; Sophie Grabar; Hansjakob Furrer; Caroline Sabin; Gerd Fatkenheuer; Amy Justice; Peter Reiss; Antonella d'Arminio Monforte; John Gill; Robert Hogg; Fabrice Bonnet; Mari Kitahata; Schlomo Staszewski; Jordi Casabona; Ross Harris; Michael Saag Journal: Clin Infect Dis Date: 2009-04-15 Impact factor: 9.079