Medicina Pulmonar e Respiratória

Review of Radiologic Infectious and Non-infectious Pulmonary Complications in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Patients

Abstract

Cardenas-Garcia Jose, Talwar Arunabh, Narasimhan Mangala, Malhotra Prashant and Shah Rakesh D

The incidence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has decreased from its peak in the 1980’s yet there are currently more people living with HIV than ever before. As a result of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the number of opportunistic infections has decreased, with a concurrent increase in the number of non-infectious complications, not initially observed in the initial HIV epidemic. The risk of developing HIV-related pulmonary complications is strongly influenced by the degree of immunosuppression, demographic characteristics, and the use of appropriate prophylaxis against HIV-associated opportunistic infections. This article reviews the radiographic and computed tomographic (CT) manifestations of common pulmonary infections and non-infectious pulmonary complications of HIV, and highlights the importance of clinical presentation, epidemiology and immunologic status.