Skin manifestations in patients with HIV infection

Cutaneous manifestations are common in patients with HIV infection and mainly due to the immunodeficiency. In the initial stage of HIV infection, we frequently observe a rash of macular lesions. During the asymptomatic phase, the patients may typically show the following skin diseases: seborrhoic dermatitis, acneiform folliculitis, persistent herpes simplex, and infections with the human papilloma virus. In ARC and AIDS patients, 3 groups of skin disorders are found: cutaneous infections, skin tumors, and other mixed skin diseases. Herpes simplex and herpes zoster may develop into ulcerating and necrotising forms especially in patients with advanced immunodeficiency. The most frequent skin tumors in AIDS patients are the disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. More than 50% of the AIDS patients treated with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole developed a severe drug eruption. African and Caribbean patients with AIDS frequently suffer from pruritic skin lesions, the pathogenesis of which is not known. Aside from these cutaneous manifestations, a variety of other skin disorders have been reported in patients with HIV infection, ARC, or AIDS; future research will furnish definite proof whether they are correlated with HIV infection.