Metabolic complications of HIV and AIDs.

Numerous anecdotal reports, clinical observations, and newly published studies provide evidence of the growing interest and concern about body shape changes and metabolic complications seen in HIV infection. At first believed to be a single complication caused by the protease inhibitor class of antiretroviral therapy, the focus of research is shifting to distinct syndromes with multiple causes. In this unfolding story, peripheral fat atrophy, central fat accumulation, dyslipidemia, and glucose disregulation characterize the more commonly recognized syndromes. Osteoporosis and osteopenia have been recently observed. While the etiologies await discovery, the long-term consequences of these metabolic changes demand the expertise of clinicians not formerly considered "front-line" in HIV/AIDS treatment, such as orthopaedic nurses.