Otorhinolaryngological manifestations of HIV/AIDS in Lagos

A prospective study was carried out at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Lagos. The aims were to determine the prevalence of otorhinolaryngological disease among patients who were HIV+ and or had clinical AIDS and to correlate the presence of ORL disease with the clinical state of HIV infection. The study was done between October 1998 and September 1999. A total of ninety-eight patients were studied. The age range of the patients was between 15 and 69 years with 83% of them being in the age group of 20-49 years. The results showed that while only 17% of the patients were referred because of ORL diseases, 80% of them actually had O.R.L./head and neck conditions. This difference of proportion is highly significant P = 0.000037. 160.20% of the patients had oral/pharyngeal lesions and 24.5% had identifiable otological disease. Hearing impairment was noted in 30.6% of the patients on pure tone audiometric assessment of which 26.5% were sensorineural. The correlation between O.R.L./head and neck manifestation and the CDC classification of HIV/AIDS infection did not reveal a definite pattern.