title: Clinical experience of esophageal ulcers and esophagitis in AIDS patients.
abstract: In Taiwan, numbers of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have been increasing in recent years. We present esophageal disease of different causes in 5(16%) heterosexual men among 31 AIDS patients over a 5-year period. Major symptoms included mild dysphagia in 4 (80%) patients and odynophagia in 3 (60%) patients. The duration of symptoms varied from 3 days to 6 months. The symptoms occurred before the diagnosis of AIDS in 3 patients. At esophagogastroduodenoscopy (endoscopy), all 5 patients had esophagitis and/or esophageal ulcers proved by histopathologic evaluation. Four had Candida esophagitis, 3 had cytomegalovirus esophagitis/ulcers and 2 had idiopathic esophageal ulcerations (IEU). Three patients had different esophagitis/ulcers at the same time or during follow-up. The median CD4 lymphocyte count at the time of diagnosis of esophageal disease was 12.2 cells/mm3 (range, 3 to 35 cells/mm3). The endoscopic pictures of the different causes of esophagitis/ ulcers lack uniformity in number, size and appearance. These observations make a conclusion that all AIDS patients with an esophageal disease should undergo endoscopy with biopsy to obtain a definitive diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Municipal Jen-Ai Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: F T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: N Y
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Siauw
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004935:Esophageal Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013624:Taiwan; D014456:Ulcer / Q000473:pathology*