Surgical management of thoracic manifestations in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients: Indications and results

Abstract

The records of 97 patients with thoracic complications of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were analysed to determine the reasons for surgery and the results of these procedures. Of the patients, 79 underwent surgery; the remaining 18 were managed non-surgically. A total of 36 procedures were performed for diagnostic purposes: mediastinoscopy (21 patients), lung biopsy (15 patients). Therapeutic procedures were performed in 61 patients to treat pneumothorax (23 cases) or empyema thoracis (18 cases), for resection of pulmonary lesions (13 cases), and to treat various other pathologies (seven cases). Ten patients died in hospital: seven after surgery and three after a non-surgical procedure. Eleven patients developed a postoperative complication. Hospital mortality varied from 0 per cent to 20 per cent, depending on the procedure. The mortality rate appears to be linked to the stage of HIV infection at the time of therapy rather than to the type of procedure performed. Surgical decisions must take into account the patient's Centers for Disease Control stage and physiological status, therapeutic possibilities, and the prognosis of the pathology requiring treatment.