title: Brazilian HIV-infected population: assessment of the needs of endodontic treatment in the post-highly active antiretroviral therapy era.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on the prevalence of endodontic diseases in HIV-infected individuals have not been reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  The purpose of this study was to determine and compare sex, age, need for root canal treatment, CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte counts, HIV viral load, and antiretroviral therapy in 222 HIV-infected individuals who were monitored at an HIV Reference Center in Brazil.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred sixty-six patients comprised the studied population; the rate of the need for endodontic treatment was 14.5%. There was a positive correlation between the CD4 + T-cells count (< 500 cell/ mm(3)) and the need for endodontic treatment, but there was no statistical difference between the need for endodontic treatment and the HIV viral load or the CD4+/CD8+ ratio in T-cell counts. Of the population that needed endodontic treatment, 79.2% was taking the HAART regimen, and the majority of the studied population was female.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that those HIV-infected individuals needing endodontic treatment had a lower CD4 + T-cell count, which probably correlated with a lower adherence to the HAART regimen.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana Carla Neves
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: de Brito
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio Camargo
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: da Rosa
authors.forename: Vinicius Salomão
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Efigênia Ferreira
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: e Ferreira
authors.forename: Leda Quercia
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Antonio Paulino Ribeiro
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sobrinho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D017742:Dental Care for Chronically Ill / Q000379:methods*; D003788:Dental Pulp Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult