Brazilian HIV-infected population: assessment of the needs of endodontic treatment in the post-highly active antiretroviral therapy era.
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.
de Brito
Luciana Carla Neves
LC
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
da Rosa
Marco Aurélio Camargo
MA
Lopes
Vinicius Salomão
VS
e Ferreira
Efigênia Ferreira
EF
Vieira
Leda Quercia
LQ
Sobrinho
Antonio Paulino Ribeiro
AP
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