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Studies evaluating whether protease inhibitor (PI) use during pregnancy raises risk for preterm birth have yielded conflicting results. Many have shown an association, but none has completely controlled for viral load or maternal disease stage — two factors that independently influence such risk.
In the present study, researchers prospectively evaluated birth outcomes among 777 HIV-infected pregnant women in the U.S. who were not receiving antiretrovirals at conception. Almost half were diagnosed with HIV during an early prenatal visit; 87% of the women started antiretrovirals during the first or second trimester, and 13% started during the third trimester. The women who received PI-based regimens (72% of the cohort) were more likely than th…