Effectiveness of dual and triple antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of HIV-infected children

Abstract

Objetivos: Como iniciar a terapia anti-retroviral é uma questao amplamente discutida no manejo de criangas infectadas pelo HIV. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a efetividade da terapia dupla e tríplice em uma coorte de criangas infectadas pelo HIV. Método: Este estudo foi realizado em um servigo de referencia para assisténcia á crianga infectada da Facul-dade de Medicina da UFMG. Foram incluídas criangas que iniciaram o primeiro regime anti-retroviral entre janeiro de 1998 e dezembro de 2000, com seguimento até dezembro de 2001. O evento final para análise foi a pri-meira falha terapéutica ou óbito. Resultados: Foram analisados 101 pacientes, sendo 58 (57,4%) e 43 (42,6%) com terapia dupla e tríplice, respectivamente. Nao houve diferenga entre os grupos quanto ao sexo, idade, contagem de linfócitos CD4+ e carga viral basal. A média de duragao da terapia dupla foi de 26,3 meses (IC95% 21,3-31,3) e da terapia tríplice, de 34,3 meses (IC95% 29,2-39,5%). Falha terapéutica ocorreu em 33 (56,9%) pacientes em terapia dupla e 11 (25,6%) em terapia tríplice (log rank 5,03; p = 0,025). O risco relativo de falha para terapia dupla foi 2,2 vezes maior (IC = 1,3-3,9). O percentual de linfócitos T CD4+ inicial foi preditor de risco para falha terapéutica (p = 0,001). Pacientes em terapia tríplice apresentaram maior redugao da carga viral (p = 0,001). Conclusáo: A terapia tríplice permaneceu eficaz por mais tempo e apresentou melhor resposta virológica do que a terapia dupla nesta coorte de criangas infectadas pelo HIV, justificando a sua escolha como regime preferencial de tratamento.
Objective: The use of antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children has been a widely discussed issue. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of dual nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) regimens and three-drug regimens [2NRTI+ non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or protease inhibitor (PI)] in a cohort of HIV-infected children. Methods: The study was carried out in a referral center for the management of infected children, which is affiliated with the School of Medicine of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). Those children whose antiretroviral therapy was implemented between January 1998 and December 2000 and who were followed until December 2001 were included in the study. Therapeutic failure or death was regarded as the endpoint in our analysis. Results: A total of 101 patients were assessed, 58 (57.4%) on dual therapy and 43 (42.6%) on triple therapy. No statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of gender, age, CD4+ count and baseline viral load. The average duration of dual therapy was 26.3 months (95%CI 21.3-31.3) and that of triple therapy was 34.3 months (95%CI 29.2-39.5%). There was therapeutic failure in 33 (56.9%) patients on dual therapy and in 11 (25.6%) patients on triple therapy (log rank = 5.03; p = 0.025). The relative risk of therapeutic failure of the dual therapy was 2.2 times higher (95%CI 1.3-3.9). The percentage of initial CD4+ T cells was a predictor of risk for therapeutic failure (p = 0.001). Patients on triple therapy showed a more remarkable reduction in their viral load (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Triple therapy was efficient for a longer time period and showed better virologic response than dual therapy in this cohort of HIV-infected children. Therefore, triple therapy should be the treatment of choice.

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Vol. 47, No. 3

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