Loading...
Most of the data evaluating the optimal time to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) in asymptomatic HIV-infected patients have come from cohort studies, comparing outcomes between patients who start treatment at a particular CD4 count — typically a clinically relevant threshold, such as 200 cells/mm3 — and those who defer treatment.
In the latest study to address this topic, investigators in Spain evaluated progression to AIDS or death among 2035 HIV-infected patients without AIDS who initiated treatment for at least 1 month between 1998 and mid-2004 and who had a baseline CD4-cell count available. Optimal time to start ART was inferred from analyses adjusted for lead time (the survival time before treatment initiation).
By multivariate analys…