Haematological aspects of antiretroviral naive HIV patients in a Nigerian tertiary hospital: laboratory and clinical considerations

ABSTRACT

To determine the baseline haematological parameters including CD4+ cell count in naive HIV patients; which has not been documented in this part of the country; the study group comprised of 191 consecutive antiretroviral (ARV) naive adults living with HIV and AIDS recruited into the ARV pilot project in University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Nigeria between July and September 2004. They were classified with respect to severity of their disease state in accordance with Center for Diseases Control Clinical Categorization of HIV/AIDS. The patients had CD4+ cell count and haematological indices done to assess disease status and need for ARV therapy. This comprised of 69(36.1) males and 122 (63.9) females with a MF ratio of 11.8. The median age at enrollment was 38 years (range; 21 to 75 years). At presentation; there were cytopenias and the males tended to have a slightly higher (195 cells/?l) CD4+ cell count than the females (180 cells/?l) with an overall median CD4+ cell count of 146 cells/?l. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.5407). There was a no significant correlation between the lymphocyte count and the CD4+ cell count. This study establishes local standard values for haematological indices including CD4+ cell count in naive HIV infected Nigerians