Musoke, Philippa M.Young, Alicia M.Owor, Maxensia A.Lubega, Irene R.Brown, Elizabeth R.Mmiro, Francis A.Mofenson, Lynne M.Jackson, J. BrooksGlenn Fowler, MaryGuay, Laura A.2022-03-082022-03-082008Musoke, P. M., Young, A. M., Owor, M. A., Lubega, I. R., Brown, E. R., Mmiro, F. A., ... & Guay, L. A. (2008). Total Lymphocyte Count: Not a surrogate marker for risk of death in HIV infected Ugandan children. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 49(2), 171. doi:10.1097/QAI.0b013e318183a92a.10.1097/QAI.0b013e318183a92a.https://nru.uncst.go.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/2564To determine the utility of Total Lymphocyte Count (TLC) in predicting the 12 month mortality in HIV infected Ugandan children; to correlate TLC and CD4 cell %. Design—This is a retrospective data analysis of clinical and laboratory data collected prospectively on 128 HIV infected children in the HIVNET 012 trial. Methods—TLC and CD4 cell % measurements were obtained at birth, 14 weeks and 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months of age and assessed with respect to risk of death within 12 months. Results—Median TLC/ul (CD4 cell %) were 4150 (41%) at birth, 4900 (24%) at 12 months, 4300 (19%) at 24 months, 4150 (19 %) at 36 months, 4100 (18%) at 48 months and 3800 (20%) at 60 months. The highest risk of mortality within 12 months was 34–37% at birth and declined to 13– 15% at 24 months regardless of TLC measurement. The correlation between CD4 cell % and TLC was extremely low overall (r = 0.01). Conclusion—The TLC did not predict a risk of progression to death within 12 months and therefore TLC alone may not be a useful surrogate marker for determining those children in greatest need for antiretroviral therapy in HIV infected Ugandan children.enTotal Lymphocyte CountHIVAfricaChildrenArticle