Predictive Value of Viral Load Testing Questioned

[Lorenzopier]

A study led by Rodriguez and Lederman examined the record of 2,800 untreated HIV-positive patients and found that viral load failed in most cases to either predict, or explain, immune status.

http://www.aidsmeds.com/news/am20060930.html

[Matty the Damned]

 

The lede from the article:

While the value of viral load testing is pretty much undisputed with respect to monitoring HIV-positive people while on treatment, a recent study by a nationwide team of HIV researchers strongly challenges conventional thinking about viral load as a measure of disease progression in those who aren't yet on therapy and questions the value of using viral load to determine when treatment should be started. The study, published in the September 27th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), indicates that viral load is much less reliable as a tool for determining the rate at which an HIV-positive person will lose CD4 (T4) cells than previously thought.

/emphasis added by Matty the Damned/

MtD

[Lorenzopier]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17003398

CONCLUSIONS: Presenting HIV RNA level predicts the rate of CD4 cell decline only minimally in untreated persons. Other factors, as yet undefined, likely drive CD4 cell losses in HIV infection. These findings have implications for treatment decisions in HIV infection and for understanding the pathogenesis of progressive immune deficiency.