2023 Volume 162 Pages 90-93
The patient was a 57-year-old woman who presented with the chief complain of sore throat and difficulty in swallowing and had consulted an otolaryngologist about 4 months ago. Pharyngeal endoscopy revealed a raised lesion of the nasopharynx and an irregular mucosal lesion in the arytaenoid area; we performed biopsy of these lesions and histopathological examination of the biopsy specimens revealed evidence of inflammation, but no evidence of malignancy. Screening for autoimmune diseases revealed no definitive diagnosis. Since the serological tests for tumor markers as well as IgG4-related diseases were negative, the patient was referred to the Department of Collagen Diseases for further investigation of the possibility of autoimmune disease. An HIV test was performed, and an increase in anti-HIV antibodies and a decrease in CD4-positive T lymphocytes were observed, leading to the diagnosis of HIV infection. Thereafter, the patient was started on treatment at the department of infectious diseases. Serology for HIV-RNA became negative after 3 months. The sore throat improved and the laryngopharyngeal lesions also improved. Early diagnosis of HIV infection is important, because early treatment improves the prognosis and also prevents the spread of infection. The initial symptoms are often in the oropharynx, and it can be said that otolaryngologists play a major role in early diagnosis.
