PURPOSE: to present the most frequent gynecologic results in a cohort of 300 outpatient HIV-infected women. METHODS: this is a prospective and descriptive study of HIV-infected women that have been followed up at the gynecological clinic from November 1996 to December 2002. These patients were subjected to a specific protocol which included an interview, a gynecological evaluation and a collecting cervical sample for Pap smear, research of HPV (PCR) and colposcopy. Cervical biopsy was performed when necessary. Data were stored and analyzed by Epi-Info, version 6.0. RESULTS: the mean age was 34.5 years. The small number of sexual partners, average of three partners, and the predominance of heterosexual contagion should be mentioned: 271 (90.6%) patients were contaminated through sexual contact with their partners. There was a high prevalence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) representing 21.7% of the total group. Of 109 patients subjected to PCR, 89 (81.7%) were found to have some HPV genotype. An inflammatory smear was present in 69% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: there is a high frequency of CIN and genital infectious diseases among HIV-infected women, mainly HPV.
AIDS; Human papillomavirus; Cervicovaginal smear; Uterine cervix; Polymerase chain reaction
