Agreement Analysis of Variables Involved in Lipodystrophy Syndrome Definition in HIV-Infected Patients

Abstract

Agreement analyses may help in the selection of the subjective variable methodology and in the inclusion of consistent and nonredundant objective measurements for diagnosis of abnormalities in body fat.

Prevalence of lipodystrophy in HIV-infected children: a cross-sectional study

“…We compared the Table 2 for definitions of antiretroviral drugs b Adjusted for gender, age, CDC stage, CD4 counts and duration of treatment c n=7 d Fisher's exact test assessment of physical changes by the patient and by the physician and found a significant correlation between both scores. However, as has also been described in adults [5,14], we observed that patients or their parents were more likely to underestimate mild or moderate physical changes; this is the first report of this tendency to underestimate in children. These findings indicate that physicians have to actively look for clinical signs of fat redistribution during routine evaluation, rather than to wait for patients' or parents' complaints.…”

“…While anthropometrical measurements may provide reliable information in adults with respect to the assessment of lipodystrophy [5,28,39,42], these parameters are less reliable at reflecting fat redistribution in children because of the normal changes in body composition with age [3,28,42]. In our study, there were no differences in anthropometrical measurements between the groups.…”

Prospective evaluation of blood concentration of mitochondrial DNA as a marker of toxicity in 157 consecutively recruited untreated or HAART-treated HIV-positive patients

“…This may be due to the fact that the mtDNA concentration is already decreased in the mononuclear cells of patients that have never received any antiviral treatment. Only triglyceride levels were significantly higher in treated HIV patients than in naive HIV patients as recently shown by Belloso et al 35 Stavudine and didanosine are the two drugs that have most frequently been reported to be associated with hyperlactataemia and thus mitochondrial toxicity. 13,[36][37][38][39] This finding is in agreement with in vitro studies demonstrating that these two drugs have a high capacity to inhibit gamma polymerase 40 and that the triphosphorylated form of stavudine is incorporated into replicating DNA more readily than other NRTIs.…”

Mitochondrial DNA Levels in Fat and Blood Cells from Patients with Lipodystrophy or Peripheral Neuropathy and the Effect of 90 Days of High-Dose Coenzyme Q Treatment: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study

“…It was a pilot study, and even with use of a randomized design, it may not have been possible to detect a beneficial effect of coenzyme Q treatment on mtDNA levels of participants. Furthermore, the lack of standardized measuring methods for lipodystrophy and neuropathy [23,24] limits the study. On the other hand, the blinded and placebocontrolled design contribute to the validity of the results based on subjective data.…”