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The Remarkable Success of ART
Combination potent antiretroviral therapy (ART) has transformed HIV infection from a rapidly progressive, often-fatal illness to a disease state characterized by common chronic conditions. During the early years of the epidemic, HIV-infected patients in the U.S. rarely lived more than several years beyond AIDS diagnosis. However, when PIs became the cornerstone of ART regimens in the mid-1990s, AIDS-related mortality rates began to fall rapidly. By 2003, ART was estimated to extend life expectancy beyond AIDS diagnosis by at least 14 years — a benefit exceeding that achieved with therapies for other chronic illnesses, such as coronary artery disease and certain cancers (ACC Jul 11 2006).1 The clinical benefits a…