Abstract
The aim of this study was to document the causes of death in the dermatology department in Lome´ and the role of HIV infection in those deaths. This retrospective study examined the records of all patients admitted to this department from 1992 through 2012. During the study period, 52 (13.5%) of the 386 patients hospitalized in the Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital dermatology department died in the hospital. Their mean age was 37.7 ± 12.8 years (range: 18 to 68 years) and half (26 patients/52) were female. Kaposi’s sarcoma (54.1%) was the most lethal skin disease, followed by cutaneous drug reactions (12.5%) and herpes zoster virus infection (11.1%). Of the 52 patients who died, HIV serology was positive in 28 of the 33 (84.8%) patients tested. The most lethal diseases, including Kaposi’s sarcoma, Stevens-Johnson syndrome (toxic epidermic necrolysis), and chicken pox/shingles skin diseases were those in which HIV seroprevalence was highest. This study shows that HIV infection plays an important role in mortality in the dermatology department at Lome´, probably through the immunosuppression it induces.
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