Effect of Splenectomy on T Lymphocyte Subsets in Patients Infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus

John J. Zurlo, Lauren Wood, Margaret Mackrell Gaglione, Michael A. Polis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

A case-control study was conducted at two institutions to determine whether the absolute CD4 lymphocyte count or the percentage of lymphocytes bearing the CD4 marker (i.e., the CD4 percentage) is a more accurate indicator of underlying immune status in splenectomized patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Each of nine splenectomized HIV-infected cases was matched with six nonsplenectomized HIV-infected controlsthree matched for CD4 lymphocyte count and three for CD4 percentage. In analyses including the eight cases with an initial CD4 lymphocyte count of >200/mm3, controlling for the CD4 count revealed differences between cases and controls in terms of CD4 percentage (range, 10%–41% and 17%–54%, respectively; P <.01) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clinical stage (P =.06). Controlling for the CD4 percentage revealed a significant difference between cases and controls in terms of CD4 count (range, 396–1,040 and 55–784 cells/mm3, respectively; P <.01) but not CDC clinical stage (P >.7). These data suggest that the numerical relationship between the CD4 lymphocyte count and the CD4 percentage among splenectomized HIV-infected patients with more than 200 CD4 cells/mm3 differs from that among nonsplenectomized patients. The CD4 percentage appears to be a more accurate indicator of the underlying level of immune function in the former group of patients.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)768-771
Number of pages4
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume20
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1995

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases

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