Use of COMBINATION ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY In Pregnant Women With HIV Disease

Important advances in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medicine have brought about numerous changes in the clinical care of HIV-infected individuals. The availability of protease inhibitors to treat HIV infection, the introduction of HIV-RNA polymerase chain reaction viral load tests to monitor responses to therapy, and the greater clinical benefit offered by combination highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) over monotherapy have dramatically decreased morbidity and mortality rates. The safety and efficacy of HAART has not been proved in pregnant women with HIV, although withholding HAART in HIV-infected women because of pregnancy is not recommended. This article presents an overview of important clinical issues relevant to the use of combination antiretroviral therapy in pregnancy.