Rheumatologic Manifestations Among HIV-positive Patients, Tehran, Iran

Due to the increase of HIV patients’ survival, rheumatologic symptoms associated with HIV such as septic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and other manifestations have increased. Also, diseases such as systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) can be intensified during AIDS.. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the prevalence and nature of rheumatologic manifestations in HIV positive patients, Tehran, Iran. This cross-sectional investigation was done on 200 HIV infected patients from 2009 to 2010. Demographic characteristics (age and sex), the route of HIV transmission and the duration of infection, existence of any concurrent infection such as hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) infections, last CD4 count, regimen and duration of the anti-retroviral therapy, presence of any musculoskeletal manifestation and joint disease and their quantity and quality were obtained. Patients were also examined by a clinician and information was recorded via checklists. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and reported as means and percentages. Two hundred HIV patients including 153 male and 47 female participated in the study. Sixty three patients (31.5%) had musculoskeletal manifestations. The most prevalent complaints were arthralgia in 25 patients (39.7%), myalgia in seven patients (11.1%) and unspecified spondyloarthritis in four patients (6.3%). Also, a borderline association was observed between HBV-HIV co-infection and presence of musculoskeletal findings (P = 0.047).. Considering the high prevalence of rheumatologic manifestations in patients with HIV/AIDS and its probable relation to the quality of life of patients, there is a pressing need for evaluating patients in this regard, especially among patients who are receiving highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and experience better clinical responses..