Important note: Information in this article was accurate in October 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; October 21, 2002
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer
"Elective cesarean section decreases the likelihood of vertical human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission from mother to infant," explained Michael S. Avidan and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and the King's College Hospital and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trusts in London, England.
Luckily, Avidan and coauthors found that cesarean section delivery with anesthesia poses little risk to new mothers taking powerful antiretroviral medications.
The researchers compared hemodynamic stability and morbidity risk for HIV+ and healthy women during and after cesarean section delivery. All of the study participants received spinal anesthesia, according to the report.
Blood loss and transfusion requirements were similar for HIV+ and control mothers, as were other hemodynamic measures, study data showed. Postoperative infections also developed at comparable rates in both cohorts.
HIV+ women showed a transient rise in CD4 cell counts immediately after delivery, while HIV RNA levels remained at baseline levels (Low complication rate associated with cesarean section under spinal anesthesia for HIV-1-infected women on antiretroviral therapy. Anesthesiology 2002 Aug;97(2):320-4.
"Elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia for women infected with HIV-1 taking antiretroviral therapy was not associated with intraoperative or postoperative complications," Avidan and colleagues concluded.
The corresponding author for this report is Michael S. Avidan, Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8054, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. E-mail: avidanm@msnotes.wustl.edu.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
Reference
Avidan MS, Groves P, Blott M, et. al., "Low complication rate associated with cesarean section under spinal anesthesia for HIV-1-infected women on antiretroviral therapy", Anesthesiology 2002 Aug;97(2):320-4.
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