Initial HIV Management Strategies

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The HCPLive Peer Exchange: Optimizing Outcomes in HIV Treatment features insight and opinion on the latest developments in HIV research, diagnosis, and management from leading physician specialists.

This Peer Exchange is moderated by Paul Doghramji, MD, who is a family physician at Collegeville Family Practice in Collegeville, PA, and Medical Director of health services at Ursinus College, also in Collegeville, PA.

The panelists are:

• Alfred A. DeLuca, MD, Infectious Disease Specialist at CentraState Healthcare System in Manalapan, NJ
• Ian Frank, MD, Director of Anti-Retroviral Clinical Research and Director of Clinical Core at Penn Center for AIDS Research, and Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA
• Paul Sax, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the HIV Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, MA

Also participating via video is Amir Qaseem, MD, Director of Clinical Policy for the American College of Physicians, based in Philadelphia, PA.

In this segment, the panelists explore some of the current and emerging treatment options and key considerations in the treatment decision making process for patients with HIV.

Doghramji notes that with the advent of antiretroviral agents, the management strategy for patients with HIV infection has changed from one of managing acute complications to one of managing this chronic condition.

DeLuca notes that any initial management strategy must take into account the patient’s readiness accept their diagnosis, begin therapy, and adhere to their treatment regimen.

When it comes to medication selection, Sax says that “even among the recommended regimens, there are many options but a few of them seem to be the best. And I think the ones that are best are the ones that combine the optimal efficacy, meaning they suppress the virus and the optimal safety and tolerability. You combine those three things and then you make them extra convenient, then you really have your best regimen.”