Urologic complications of HIV and AIDS

Abstract

In recent years the nature of HIV infection has been dramatically transformed from an invariably fatal disease to a chronic disorder with a relatively benign course. Disease progression from HIV to AIDS and HIV-related mortality can be reduced effectively by several years of treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). For patients who do not have access to HAART, HIV infection continues to be a lethal disorder characterized by opportunistic infection with uncommon organisms (e.g. mycobacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses), as well as lethal malignancies such as Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the penis or cervix. In patients receiving HAART, urologic complications are likely to be caused by adverse effects of antiretroviral medication (e.g. indinavir urolithiasis) or disorders associated with aging, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. Prospective clinical trials have shown that adult male circumcision can reduce the rate of female to male HIV transmission by more than 50%; however, the development of preventive or curative modalities with 100% efficacy remains elusive.