Method: Analysis of virological, immunological, and clinical data over 24 weeks of treatment of drug-experienced patients administered didanosine (ddI) and tenofovir (TDF) plus either PI or NNRTI (17 patients) compared to 14 patients on ddI plus lamivudine and to 19 patients on ddI plus stavudine.
Results: Patients treated with TDF and ddI do not have a higher risk of early immunological or virological failure.
Conclusion: Treatment success and increase in CD4+ lymphocytes may depend, among other factors, on historical CD4+ nadir. These data agree with previous work and argue against preemptive switches for fear of side effects or immunological/virological failure away from a successful ddI-TDF combination in clinically stable drug-experienced patients.