Bronchoscopy in HIV-infected patients (based on data from patients with pulmonary symptoms)

Abstract

Aim objective. The study aimed at determining the facility for bronchoscopic examination and management of HIV-infected patients.Materials and methods. Results of a total of 1393 bronchoscopic procedures carried out in HIV-infected patients (100%) hospitalized in the pulmonology departments with different pulmonologic disorders. The HIV-infection was a comorbidity at that.Results. In terms of study process organization two patient flows have been discerned. The first flow included patients with asymptomatic infection/carrier state (138 bronchoscopic procedures [9,91%] for 104 patients), for whom bronchoscopy was performed due to general indications. The second flow comprised patients with a full-scale clinical picture of the disease (1255 bronchoscopic procedures [90,09%] for 1099 patients). The second flow was divided into two groups, namely, patients with earlier diagnosed HIV-infection (group IIА amounting to 523 bronchoscopic procedures [37,54%] for 473 patients) and patients newly diagnosed with HIV infection (group IIВ; 732 bronchoscopic procedures [52,55%] for 626 patients). Common to both groups was the absence of urgent indications for bronchoscopy, although the elective indications were different between the groups. In all instances the endobronchial symptoms were either non-specific or reflected mucosal lesions in the large bronchi related to lung tumor or tuberculosis.