Study of haematological changes in HIV patients in correlation with CD4 cell count at tertiary care hospital, Gujarat, India

Introduction: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized in 1981 and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified in 1983[1]. HIV continues to be a serious health issue in most parts of the world. In India there were an estimated 23.19 lac individuals living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2020 with an adult prevalence of 0.22%[2]. HIV infection is characterized by progressive decrease in the number of circulating CD4+ T-helper cells. Aim: The objectives in this study were to study haematological changes in HIV patients and to correlate them with CD4 cell counts. Materials and methods: This was an observational study carried out at the Department of Pathology, at Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhuj from September 2021 to October 2021. Total 320 HIV positive patient were evaluated for various hematological parameters. Results: We studied 320 cases out of which 195 (60.93%) were male and 125 (39.07%) were females. The majority of 110(34.38%) cases were in the age group of 31-40 years.From 320 cases, 43 (13.44%) patients have CD4 <200, 112(35.00%) patients have CD4 200-500 and 165(51.56%) have CD4 >500. In present study, 25 patients have leucopenia (WBC count <=4000) among them 10(40.00%) have CD4 count <200/cumm and 7(28.00%) have CD4 count >500/cumm and 295 patients have leucocytosis (WBC count >4000) among them 158(53.55%) have CD4 count >500/cumm and 33(11.18%) have CD4 count <200/cumm. Conclusions: Hematologicalchanges are common in HIV patients. Cytopenia especially normocytic normochromic anemia is the most frequent finding followed by leukopenia. There is a significant correlation between CD4 count and leukopenia. This might be the cause of opportunistic infection in the HIV patient. That is the importance of observation of haematological parameters in HIV patient and to correct them to reduce mortality and morbidity