Prevalence and pattern of inflammatory dermatoses and skin cancers in highly active antiretroviral therapy-experienced and highly active antiretroviral therapy-naive patients in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) reduces morbidity, mortality and prolong life in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Only a few studies have compared the prevalence and pattern of inflammatory dermatoses and skin cancers in HAART-naive and HAART-experienced HIV-infected patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of inflammatory dermatoses and skin cancers in HAART-experienced and HAART-naive patients in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study that involved 330 HAART-experienced patients and 330 HAART-naive patients. Patients were examined for inflammatory dermatoses and skin cancers. Skin biopsies were done where applicable for diagnostic accuracy. Results: The mean age of the HAART-experienced group and HAART-naive group was 42.39 ± 10.1 years and 39.9 ± 11.2 years, respectively. The male-to-female ratio of the HAART-naive and HAART-experienced population was 1.9:1 and 3:1, respectively. The median CD4 count of the HAART-naive group was significantly lower than the HAART-experienced group (275.5 vs. 487 cells/μ P ≤ 0.01). Skin cancers were present in 1.8% of the HAART-naive group but absent in HAART-experienced patients (P ≤ 0.01). The prevalence of inflammatory dermatoses was 36 (10.9%) in the HAART-naive group and 8 (2.4%) in the HAART-experienced group (P Conclusion: Inflammatory dermatoses and skin malignancies were more common in HAART-naive HIV-infected patients compared to HAART-experienced patients. HAART may reduce the cutaneous morbidity in HIV patients.