OPPORTUNISTIC UPPER AIRWAY AND EAR DISEASES IN PATIENTS WITH LATE STAGE OF HIV-INFECTION

Aim. To study the opportunistic diseases of the upper airways and the ear at the late stages of disease in HIV-infected patients who underwent treatment at resuscitation and intensive care units (RICU) of infectious hospital, to reveal peculiarities of their clinical course for improvement of diagnosis and management. Materials and methods. Forty six HIV-infected patients with opportunistic diseases of the upper airway and the ear were observed at RICU of Perm Regional Clinical Infectious Hospital for the period of 2014-2015. Their diagnosis was based on complex clinicoinstrumental, biochemical and microbiological methods with subsequent isolation and classification of Candida fungi from the fauces mucosa. Results. All the observed patients had pathology of the upper airways, mainly of the fauces: fungus and tumor diseases. In most patients (95%), different clinical forms of oropharyngeal candidiasis and its combinations were diagnosed. There predominated acute pseudomembranous candidiasis and angular cheilitis. In etiological structure of oropharengial candidiasis, Candida albicans (73,9%) was dominating. Conclusions. A timely and full diagnosis of opportunistic diseases of the upper airways and the ear in HIV-infected patients performed at the late stages of diseases permits to determine etiological character of pathological process, clinical form and severity of lesions for adequate management and prevention of complications.