Association of maternal antiretroviral use with microcephaly in children who are HIV-exposed but uninfected (SMARTT): a prospective cohort study

Publication date: Available online 15 November 2019Source: The Lancet HIVAuthor(s): Paige L Williams, Cenk Yildirim, Ellen G Chadwick, Russell B Van Dyke, Renee Smith, Katharine F Correia, Alexandria DiPerna, George R Seage, Rohan Hazra, Claudia S Crowell, Surveillance Monitoring for ART Toxicities (SMARTT) study of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort StudySummaryBackgroundPerinatal HIV transmission has substantially decreased with combination antiretroviral regimens, but complications in children who are HIV-exposed but uninfected, such as microcephaly, warrant ongoing surveillance. We aimed to evaluate whether individual in utero antiretroviral exposures were associated with increased risk of microcephaly based on long-term follow-up of infants and children who are HIV-exposed but uninfected.MethodsWe evaluated children aged younger than 18 years who were HIV-exposed but uninfected with at least one head circumference measurement while enrolled in the Surveillance Monitoring for ART Toxicities (SMARTT) study at 22 clinical sites in the USA, including Puerto Rico. This prospective cohort study was done by the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study network. Microcephaly was defined as having a head circumference Z score <–2 according to the 2000 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts for children 6–36 months old and according to Nellhaus standards (head circumference <2nd percentile) after 36 months (SMARTT criteria); an alternate definition for microcepha...
Source: The Lancet HIV - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research