Survival of AIDS patients with cryptosporidiosis

Cryptosporidiosis is a potentially life-threatening complication of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. To ascertain whether cryptosporidiosis is associated with decreased survival in this population, we performed a retrospective case-control study at four teaching hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio. The period of observation extended from January 1986 to December 1995, Thirty-nine HIV-infected patients with cryptosporidiosis were compared with HIV-infected patients without cryptosporidiosis (53 matched on CD4 counts and 40 matched on the presence of chronic diarrhea), Survival in the cryptosporidiosis group (164 days) was shorter (P = .004) than survival for controls (437 days and 485 days, respectively), After diagnosis of Cryptosporidium parvum infection, patients spent 21% of their survival days in the hospital, compared with 7% and 8% for controls (P < .001), Cryptosporidiosis is associated with decreased patient survival and prolonged hospitalization.