Síndrome de lipodistrofia en pacientes con VIH/sida que reciben terapia antirretroviral de gran actividad en Tepic, México

objective: to establish the relationship between lipodystrophy syndrome and highly active anti-retroviral therapy in hiv/aids patients. methods: a cross-sectional, descriptive and co-relational study was conducted in hiv/aids patients, who had received highly active antiretroviral therapy in centro ambulatorio de prevención y atención del sida e infecciones de transmisión sexual (capasits) de tepic in nayarit, méjico from march to december, 2007. the definition and diagnosis of this syndrome was based on the method developed by the national center in hiv epidemiology and clinical research (nchecr) method in australia. the chi square test evaluated the dependence between syndrome and therapy. one hundred seventy five patients (128 men and 47 women) aged 19-72 years were evaluated. results: one hundred forty one patients (80.6 %) were diagnosed with lipodystrophy syndrome (ci95%74,7-86,4 %); 82.6 % corresponded to men and 74.5 % to women. according to severity, 17 % classified as grade 1; 1.3 % in grade 2; 10 % in grade 3 and 51 % as grade iv. the chi square tests for the evaluation of dependence between syndrome and therapy were not significant. conclusions: severe lipodystrophy syndrome is a serious health problem for hiv/aids patients receiving antiretroviral therapy or not. it adds a significant cardiovascular risk that must be considered for prevention or treatment. although the results may be biased or restricted, they represent an important approach to planning and performing health interventions that will reduce the impact of the syndrome on the health of hiv/aids patients.