The option of intensive care for the patient with AIDS (a literature review).

The utilisation of intensive care facilities in the treatment of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) related disease has been traditionally questioned on the basis of early results of poor prognosis for patients with AIDS admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs). However, recent reviewers have pointed out a significant improvement in in-hospital survival rates for AIDS patients admitted to ICU. Improved prognosis may be related to improved drug therapies in response to Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP) infection (including the use of corticosteroids), as well as initiating mechanical ventilation in response to the associated respiratory failure earlier in the disease process. The decision to utilise intensive care facilities is often complicated by AIDS related neurological complications, rendering the patient incapable of consenting to (or refusing) treatment. The importance of obtaining a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patient's wishes in regard to their long term management is discussed. Options that have been used previously by patients with AIDS to ensure such wishes are carried out are presented.