HIV-associated immune dysfunction and delayed pubertal development in a cohort of young hemophiliacs. Hemophilia Growth and Development Study

J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 1999 Aug 1;21(4):333-7. doi: 10.1097/00126334-199908010-00012.

Abstract

As part of the Hemophilia Growth and Development Study (HGDS), we investigated the relationship between HIV-associated immune dysfunction and delayed pubertal development in a cohort of 333 boys and adolescents with moderate or severe hemophilia who were between the ages of 6 and 19 years at study entry in 1989. Sixty-two percent of the cohort was infected with HIV in the late 1970s and early 1980s through exposure to contaminated clotting factor concentrates. The cohort was observed during follow-up at 6-month intervals; measurements taken at each follow-up visit included Tanner stage and CD4+ cell count. This analysis of data from the first 4 years of follow-up revealed statistically significant delays in pubertal development associated with increasing levels of immune dysfunction. Our results emphasize the importance of following pubertal development in HIV-infected adolescent boys since delays in maturation may reflect underlying disease progression.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • CD4 Lymphocyte Count
  • Child
  • Cohort Studies
  • HIV Infections / complications*
  • HIV Infections / immunology*
  • HIV Infections / physiopathology
  • Hemophilia A / complications*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Puberty, Delayed / etiology*