Background: The aims of this study were to determine the pattern and frequency of oral lesions and to compare the prevalence of HIV-related oral lesions in paediatric Nigerian patients on HAART with those not on HAART.
Materials and methods: All patients aged 15 years and below attending the Infectious Disease Clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital with a diagnosis of HIV were consecutively examined in a cross-sectional study over a 2-year period. Information was obtained by history, physical examinations, HIV testing, and enumeration of CD+ T cells. The results are presented. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: A total of 105 children comprising 63 males and 42 female who met the inclusion criteria participated in the study, mean age in months was 53.3±42.2, with a mean of 3.4±2.2 for male and 2.8±1.8 for female respectively. Oral lesions occurred in 61.9% of the children Overall, 22 (21.0%) had at least one oral lesion, 43 (41.0%) had multiple lesion. The most common lesion was oral candidiasis (79.1%). The angular cheilitis (43.8%) variant was most frequent. The mean CD4 counts were 1138 cells/mm(3), 913 cells/mm(3) and 629 cells/mm(3) for those without oral lesion, with single lesion and multiple oral lesions respectively. These differences were not statistically significant (ANOVA: F=0.185, df=2, 80, 82, P=0.831. Patients on HAART comprised about 61.9% and these were found to have reduced risk for development of such oral lesions as angular cheilitis (OR=0.76; 95% CI=0.56-1.02; P=0.03), pseudomembranous candidiasis (OR=0.71; 95% CI=0.54-0.94; P=0.024) and HIV-gingivitis (OR=0.59; 95% CI=0.46-0.75; P=0.001). HAART had some beneficial but insignificant effect on development of HIV-periodonttitis (OR=0.60; 95% CI=0.51-0.70; P=0.09). The chances of occurrence of other oral lesions were not significantly reduced by HAART (Kaposi sarcoma, OR=1.24; 95% CI=0.31-5.01; P=0.47, erythematous candidiasis, OR=1.13; 95% CI=0.62-2.06).
Conclusion: HIV-related Oral lesions are frequently seen in HIV-infected Nigerian children. Paediatric patients receiving HAART had significantly lower prevalence of oral lesions, particularly oral candidiasis and HIV-gingivitis.
Keywords: HIV/AIDS; Nigeria; oral manifestations; paediatrics.