title: An audit on virological efficacy of anti-retroviral therapy in a specialist infectious disease clinic.
abstract: We have assessed the efficacy of anti retroviral therapy (ART) using undetectable viral load (VL) (<50 RNA copies/ml) as a marker of virological success, in patients who have Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) attending the Department of Infectious Disease. A cross-sectional review of patients' case notes was used to obtain their demographics and treatment details. 79% (253) of the hospital case notes of clinic population was available for analysis, which represents 90% of those receiving ART in the clinic. 166/253 of the cohort were receiving treatment at the time of this study and 95% (157/166) of these were on treatment for greater than 6 months. The total virological success rate is 93%, which is comparable to other centres and are as good as those from published clinical trials. 56% of those on therapy who have virological failure were Intravenous Drug Users (IVDUs). Case by case investigation for those with treatment failure is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Dublin 9. A.I.Reyad@hotmail.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reyad
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waldron
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Canning
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coakley
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McConkey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D055552:Infectious Disease Medicine; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents