AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma: outcomes after initiation of antiretroviral therapy at a university-affiliated hospital in urban Zimbabwe.

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively investigate the outcomes of patients with AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma (AIDS-KS) after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), under routine practice conditions, at a university-affiliated hospital in urban Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: While studies from developed nations have demonstrated excellent outcomes for AIDS-KS patients treated with ART, few studies have examined the outcomes of African AIDS-KS patients after starting therapy.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 124 AIDS patients initiating ART under routine practice conditions was studied. Thirty-one patients with AIDS-KS were matched 1:3 to 93 AIDS patients without KS (non-KS). The primary outcome was loss-to-care after initiation of therapy. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify significant predictors of loss-to-care. The percent change in weight at 6 months after starting ART was a secondary outcome. A sub-group analysis evaluated differences in pre-treatment variables between AIDS-KS patients retained-in-care compared to those lost-to-care.

RESULTS: AIDS-KS patients had significantly greater 2-year proportional loss-to-care than matched non-KS AIDS patients (26.4% vs. 9.5%; p = 0.01) after initiation of ART. In multivariate analysis, the presence of KS (p = 0.02) was the only significant predictor of loss-to-care. AIDS-KS patients had significantly less weight gain after starting ART than non-KS AIDS patients (+3.4% vs. +6.4%; p = 0.03). AIDS-KS patients retained-in-care had significantly higher pre-treatment CD4+ lymphocyte counts than AIDS-KS patients lost-to-care (223 vs. 110 cells/mm(3); p = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective study, AIDS-KS patients experienced significantly worse outcomes than matched non-KS AIDS patients after initiation of ART. AIDS-KS patients with higher pre-treatment CD4+ lymphocyte counts were more likely to be retained in care.