Increasing burden of noninfectious lung disease in persons living with HIV: a 7-year study using the French nationwide hospital administrative database

An overall reduction in the incidence of AIDS and a change in the spectrum of lung disease have been noticed in persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Our aim was to provide an epidemiological update regarding the prevalence of lung diseases in PLHIV hospitalised in France. We analysed the prevalence of lung disease in PLHIV hospitalised in France from 2007 to 2013, from the French nationwide hospital medical information database, and assessed the association between HIV and incident noninfectious disease over 4 years of follow-up. A total of 52 091 PLHIV were hospitalised in France between 2007 and 2013. Among PLHIV hospitalised with lung disease, noninfectious lung diseases increased significantly from 45.6% to 54.7% between 2007 and 2013, whereas the proportion of patients with at least one infectious lung disease decreased significantly. In 2010, 10 067 prevalent hospitalised PLHIV were compared with 8 244 682 hospitalised non-PLHIV. In 30-49-year-old patients, HIV infection was associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic respiratory failure, emphysema, lung fibrosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) even after adjustment for smoking. The emergence of noninfectious lung disease, in particular COPD, emphysema, lung fibrosis, PAH and chronic respiratory disease, in PLHIV would justify mass screening in this population.