Natural history of advanced HIV disease in patients treated with zidovudine

To describe the natural history of advanced HIV disease in patients treated with zidovudine, longitudinal, observational study of eight hundred and sixty-three patients with AIDS or AIDS-related complex (ARC) with a CD4+ lymphocyte count < 250 x 10 super(6)/l, who first received zidovudine between 15 April 1987 and 14 April 1988, was undertaken. We describe the natural history of a cohort of patients treated with zidovudine for advanced HIV disease. These CD4+ lymphocyte count-stratified estimates of disease progression should provide prognostic information useful in the clinical management of advanced disease and the design of future studies.