AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, April 17, 2000
Prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports

The study was presented in a recent issue of the journal AIDS ("Epidemiology of thrombosis in HIV-infected individuals," AIDS 2000 Feb 18;14(3):321-4.

In this study, medical records of more than 42,000 individuals with the HIV infection who had been treated in medical centers across the United States were examined. Patients were older than 13 years, and had been medically observed for an average of 2.4 years, according to P.S. Sullivan and coauthors of the study.

"The incidence of thrombosis among HIV infected individuals was 2.6/1000 person-years," Sullivan's group said.

Based on the data, risk factors associated with thrombosis were:

• Age greater than or equal to 45 years
  
• Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus or retinitis
  
• Other AIDS opportunistic diseases
  
• Hospitalization
  
• Megestrol acetate therapy
  
• Indinavir therapy
  

Sullivan et al. noted that other risk factors, including protease inhibitors, gender and race demographics, and method of HIV acquisition were not significantly associated with this blood vessel pathology.

The researchers concluded, "Physicians should be aware of the risks of thrombosis in order to promote the early identification and appropriate treatment or prophylaxis."

They also recommended that a study of the association between thrombosis and idinavir therapy should be conducted in the future.

For 18 additional articles relating to thrombosis and HIV, see www.NewsRx.com.

The corresponding author for this study is P.S. Sullivan, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-47, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.

Key points reported in this study are:

• Thrombosis can be clinically identified in some HIV patients
  
• Age, AIDS related diseases, hospitalization, and certain drug therapies are significantly related to the onset of thrombosis in AIDS patients
  
• Medical personnel should become aware of these risk factors so as to identify and treat thrombosis early when it is present in AIDS patients
  

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

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