Annals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgery, 2020 1
© Annals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgery. All rights reserved. Ann Laparosc Endosc Surg 2020;5:AB014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/ales-2019-bms-25
AB014. OP-14 The efficacy of
bariatric surgery in a HIV (+)
and type 2 diabetic patient
Mehmet Nuri Koşar, Onur İlkay Dinçer,
Aydin Dincer
S.B.Ü. Antalya Education and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey
Correspondence to: Mehmet Nuri Koşar. S.B.Ü. Antalya Education and
Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey. Email: itfm97@yahoo.com.
Abstract: Obesity is one of the most common health
problems. According to the Turkish data, there were
2,000,000 people with a body mass index (BMI) above 40
in 2018. According to the 2017 data from the ministry
of health, it is estimated that there are 17,884 registered
and 30,000 non-registered HIV + patients. In America
and France, there are data showing that the incidence of
obesity is increased in HIV (+) patients. The co-existence
of obesity among HIV-infected patients is high, which has
negative effects on the results of highly active antiretroviral
therapy (HAART). In the literature, the publications on
this topic are limited; however, there are positive reports in
terms of comorbidity control and response to treatment in
case reports and several case series presentations published
in recent years. In our case report, we aimed to present
a patient with obesity and HIV (+) with the results. A
39-year-old male patient was admitted to our outpatient
clinic with the complaint of overweight on 09.11.2016. His
history revealed that he had suffered weight problems for a
long time, had diabetes and could not lose enough weight
with diet. His physical examination showed that he did
not undergo any operation and had no scars on his body
other than tattoos. Endocrinology, psychiatry and dietician
consultations, upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy
and abdominal ultrasonography (USG) were performed
for the patient with a height of 180 cm and a weight of
164 kg and a BMI of 50.6 in the evaluation. The patient
who was scheduled for sleeve gastrectomy was diagnosed
with AIDS during his routine preoperative evaluation.
After the evaluation of infectious diseases, the patient was
initiated on antiretroviral therapy. Emtricitabine/tenofovir
disoproxil 200 mg/245 mg per day, dolutegravir 50 mg/day,
and Trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole and azithromycin
dihydrate 500 mg 3×1 day were started. The patient’s
diabetes was followed up in terms of metabolic syndrome.
The patient who was on oral antidiabetic before antiviral
therapy started to receive insulin. The patient treated
and followed up by the department of infectious diseases
between February 2017 and December 2018 was referred to
us for bariatric surgery considering that he is in remission.
The patient underwent sleeve gastrectomy on 06.03.2019.
In the postoperative period, emtricitabine/tenofovir
disoproxil 200 mg/245 mg and dolutegravir 50 mg/day
were continued. Laboratory parameters that were seen to
be impaired during antiviral therapy were not observed
again following weight loss. Many studies on general
population have suggested a positive correlation between
obesity and comorbidities. Therefore, bariatric surgery has
taken its place as an appropriate approach in the treatment
of obesity and comorbidities. However, there are limited
studies on the incidence of obesity and comorbidities in
HIV-positive patients in the society, from which data can
be obtained. It is obvious that the survival rates of HIV-
positive patients have increased following the introduction
of new generation antiviral drugs and the incidence of
comorbidities and obesity is thought to have increased. A
few small case series have reported that bariatric surgery
is safe in HIV-positive patients. Mortality has not been
observed in none of the patients in these series. Vitamin
defciency has been observed in three patients. In our case,
oral replacement was performed in the third postoperative
month upon the development of B12 defciency. In a study
by Chloé Amouyal et al. published in Obesity Surgery in
2018 investigating the efficacy of antiviral drugs in HIV-
positive patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy with
a follow-up period of 36 months, it was argued that sleeve
gastrectomy was effective in increasing drug efficacy and
controlling comorbidities. Although there are few case
series in the literature, we also observed that bariatric
surgery was effective in the HIV-positive patient both
in terms of the effectiveness of antiviral therapy and
prevention of comorbidities.
Keywords: HIV; metabolic syndrome; sleeve gastrectomy
Provenance and Peer Review: This abstract is included in “Abstracts from
the 3rd Turkish National Congress on Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery,
21st-24th November 2019, Antalya-Turkey”, which is commissioned by
the Guest Editor (Mehmet Mahir Özmen) for the series “Bariatric and
Metabolic Surgery” published in Annals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic
Surgery. This abstract did not undergo external peer review.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have completed the ICMJE
uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/