In this trial, 48 weeks of lopinavir-ritonavir monotherapy with reintroduction of nucleosides as needed was non-inferior to continuation of two nucleosides and lopinavir-ritonavir in patients with prior stable suppression. However, episodes of low level viremia were more common in patients receiving monotherapy.

We analyzed survival rates, neurologic function, and prognostic factors for 118 consecutive patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 11 hospitals throughout Spain. Seventy-five patients (63.6%) remained alive for a median of 114 weeks (2.2 years) after diagnosis of PML. Neurologic function of the survivors was categorized as cure or improvement in 33, stabilization or worsening in 40, and unknown in 2. The baseline CD4+ cell count was the only variable found with prognostic significance. The odds ratio of death was 2.71 (95% confidence interval, 1.19-6.15) for patients with CD4+ cell counts of <100 cells/microL, compared with patients who had CD4+ cell counts of > or =100 cells/microL. One-third of patients with PML died despite receipt of HAART; neurologic function improved in approximately one-half of the survivors. A CD4+ cell count of <100 cells/microL was associated with higher mortality.

The signatures of coherent systems are useful tools to compute the system reliability functions, the system expected lifetimes and to compare different systems using stochastic orderings. It is well known that there exist 2, 5 and 20 different coherent systems with 2, 3 and 4 components, respectively. In this paper, we obtain an algorithm to compute all the coherent systems with n components and their signatures. Using this algorithm we show that there exist 180 coherent systems with 5 components and we compute their signatures.

Although doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (ABVD) is considered the standard chemotherapy regimen for Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), information on the results of this therapy in human immunodeficiency (HIV)-related HL is scarce. We analyzed the results of the ABVD regimen and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in patients with advanced stage, HIV-related HL. Design and MethodsFrom January 1996 to December 2005, 62 HIV-infected patients with newly diagnosed HL were treated in 15 Spanish hospitals. Six to eight cycles of ABVD and HAART were planned. Response to chemotherapy, overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were recorded. ResultsThe median age of the patients was 37 years (range, 24-61) and 29 (47%) had a previously known diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The median CD4 lymphocyte count at diagnosis was 129/µL (range 5-1,209). The histologic subtype of HL was nodular sclerosis in 17 patients (27%), mixed cellularity in 25 (41%), lymphocyte depletion in 10 (16%) and non-specified in the remaining 10 (16%). Twentyone (34%) patients were in stage III and 41 (66%) in stage IV. The scheduled six to eight ABVD cycles were completed in 82% of cases. Six patients died during induction, 54 (87%) achieved a complete response (CR) and two were resistant. After a median follow-up of 39 and 47 months, 5-year EFS and OS probabilities were 71% (47-95) and 76% (65-87), respectively. An immunological response was observed in 24 out of 43 patients (56%) and a virological response in 27 out of 40 (68%). The immunological response to HAART had a positive impact on OS and EFS (p=0.002 and p=0.001, respectively). Interpretation and ConclusionsIn patients with advanced stage, HIV-related HL, treatment with ABVD together with HAART is feasible and effective. This supports the concept that patients with HIVrelated HL should be treated in the same way as immunocompetent patients if HAART, adequate supportive therapy and anti-infectious prophylaxis are given concomitantly. An immunological response to HAART has a positive impact on OS and EFS.Key words: Hodgkin's lymphoma, HIV-related, advanced stage, ABVD, HAART. Haematologica 2007; 92:191-198 ©2007 Ferrata Storti Foundation 1 Its aggressive behavior includes unfavorable histological subtypes, advanced stage and extranodal involvement at diagnosis. 2-6Although in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) the incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has declined according to several studies, this does not seem to be the case for HL. In recent years improvements have been observed in the survival of both patients with HIV-related NHL and those with HL.7-9 There are several possible reasons for these improvements. First, HAART increases CD4 lymphocyte counts and, concomitantly, reduces the risk of opportunistic infections; second, an improvement in the immunodeficiency status could prevent relapse of the lymphoma; and third, improvements in supportive therapy, e.g. the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-...

Patients with elevated lipid values at baseline have the greatest risk of developing hypercholesterolaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia after starting lopinavir/ritonavir. Antiretroviral-naive patients coinfected with hepatitis C have a low risk of developing hyperlipidaemia after starting lopinavir/ritonavir.