Patterns of head and neck lesions among HIV/AIDS patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy at Dodoma Regional Referral Hospital in Tanzania

Introduction: Head and neck lesions associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus are considered to occur in over 50% of HIV- positive patients and occur in nearly 80% of all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy has led to a remarkable reduction in the global burden of such lesions. Suppose such lesions are undiagnosed or untreated on a prompt basis. In that case, they may cause morbidity and mortality since some lesions, for example, head and neck cancers may interfere with vital functions of life such as respiration, deglutition, and speech. This study determined head and neck lesions among HIV/AIDS patients in Tanzania. Methods: This was a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study that recruited 222 HIV/AIDS patients at a care and treatment clinic at Dodoma Regional Referral Hospital.  Physical examination and laboratory investigations (histopathology, viral load and CD4 counts) were collected and data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. P-value<0.05 was statistically significant. Results: Of all the 222 patients recruited in this study, 26 (11.7%) had head and neck lesions. Most patients with head and neck lesions were females (57.6%). Half of the patients (50.0%) were between 40 and 59 years old. About 21 (80.8%) patients were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS within two years, and 22 (84.6%) were initially diagnosed with CD4 counts less than 200 cells/μL. The most common head and neck lesion was oral candidiasis (46.2%) and others were cervicofacial lymphadenitis (15.4%), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (laryngeal and hypopharyngeal) (11.5%), sinonasal Kaposi’s sarcoma (7.7%), odontogenic abscess (7.7%) and aphthous ulcers (7.7%) and the least encountered head and neck lesion was a ranula in 3.8% of patients. Similarly, a significant association was found between the occurrence of head and neck lesions with viral load, CD4 counts, duration since a patient was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, presence of comorbid illness, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. Conclusions: The prevalence of head and neck lesions among HIV/AIDS patients on HAART was low. Females outnumbered males in terms of being affected by head and neck lesions. Oral candidiasis was the most common head and neck lesion. Head and neck (laryngeal and hypopharyngeal) squamous cell carcinoma was the predominant subtype of malignant lesions in HIV/AIDS patients on HAART.