A maternal death caused by AIDS. Case report

Abstract

Physicians at a district general hospital in London, England admitted a 26 year old pregnant political refugee from Uganda complaining of shortness of breath, fever, and a productive cough for 1 week. She was at 10 weeks gestation and had not yet sought prenatal care. 6 years earlier she had a child and her pregnancy and delivery were normal. They diagnosed an interstitial pneumonia based on an X ray, arterial gases, and quick breathing and administered intravenous (IV) ampicillin and erythromycin for 3 days. Her condition deteriorated nevertheless, so they had her blood tested for HIV. She tested positive and suspected pneumocystosis (later confirmed) and began treatment with IV Septrin and hydrocortisone. She worsened, and by the 10th day of this treatment she was receiving 60% oxygen. They changed her treatment to IV pentamidine and oral rifampicin and isoniazid. By this time, her white blood cell count was 28.7x109/1 and hemoglobin concentration 8.2g/dl. Her condition would not allow her to undergo general anesthesia so an abortion requested by the patient was not performed. Additional treatment included continuous infusion of eflornithine, but she died despite it. This case poses 2 questions. Could she have lived if there had not been a delay in HIV diagnosis? Research shows that CD4 lymphocytes cell counts fall considerably during pregnancy in HIV positive women. So some advocate prophylaxis earlier in these women than other immunocompromised patients. Was it indeed her pregnancy that contributed to the severity of her illness and its inability to respond to treatment? Some researchers find pregnancy accelerates the progress of HIV infection, but researchers do not yet know if it also accelerates the progress of opportunistic infections. If so, terminating pregnancy may be considered.