Clinical prevalence of oral manifestations in patients with HIV+ referred to Imam Khomeini hospital and a private clinic in Tehran: 2001-2002

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of oral manifestations in HIV infected patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital and a private clinic in Tehran during 2001-2002. Method & Material: The study conducted descriptively based on observation, interview and informational questionnaire on 77 patients. The questionnaires included information about history of the patients, oral clinical exams by dentists and physical examination by a specialist in infectious diseases along with evaluation of the results of paraclinical exams (CD4 count, WBC count, lymphocyte count CD4/CD8). The study showed the highest prevalence of the disease in males (84.4%), age group of 30-39 (42.2%), under diploma educational level (53.2%), and non-civil servants (59.7%). The most common way of transmission of the infection was IVDU (48.1%) and the highest prevalence stage of HIV was ARC (79.2%). The highest prevalence of oral manifestations were periodontal diseases (61%), psudomembranous candidiasis (37.3%), herpes simplex virus (26%), recurrent aphtous ulcers (26%), angular chelitis (22.1%), erythmatous candidiasis (15.6%), oral hairy leukoplakia (14.3%), red bound gingivitis (7.8%), acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (6.5%), abnormality pigmentation (6.5%), salivary and gland disease (2.6%), Immuno Thrombocytopenic purpura (1.3%), herpes zoster virus (1.3%), others (1.3%) and dry mouth (62.3%). In the paraclinical tests 54.4% were CD4<500 cells/mm3 and the average percent of lymphocytes was 32.25 and the average count of CD4 lymphocytes was 403.59. The average count of WBC was 6682.5 and the average of CD4/CD8 was 0.74409. Highest prevalence of HIV infection was observed in males, age group of 30-39, IV drug abusers, prisoners and travelers to high – risk areas. The most frequent stages of the disease were ARC (pre AIDS) and AIDS respectively.