Spectrum of lesions in HIV patients: an Indian scenario

India has been referred to as the new hot bed of HIV with Mumbai being the capital of HIV/AIDS. HIV has remarkable ability to cripple host defenses with development of complications having peculiar natural histories. It is this realization that prompted us to study HIV/AIDS associated lesions which continue to spread and cause significant threats to life. A prospective study of 380 HIV patients was done in a tertiary care teaching hospital for two years. Samples received for cytopathology and histopathology were studied. 72.3% were in the age group of 21-40 years with 256 males and 124 females. Tuberculosis was seen in 200 cases, reactive lymphadenitis in 65 cases, lymphoid malignancies in 32 cases and genital tract malignancies in 18 cases. The commonest presentation was weight loss in 362 cases, followed by lymphadenopathy in 324 and fever in 196 cases. Of the 32 lymphoid malignancies, 27 were nonHodgkin’s lymphoma and 5 were Hodgkin’s disease. The most common type of genital malignancy encountered was carcinoma cervix seen in 72.22%, followed by carcinoma vulva in 22.22% and carcinoma penis in 2.56%. In India, large-scale studies need to be done to evaluate the exact burden of HIV-related lesions with urgent need to increase the awareness of various aspects of AIDS, gathering of epidemiological data and to direct the research efforts in Indian subjects.