The skin is affected in virtually all patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
infection. Many articles and several books have been published that deal with these
disorders for a number of reasons. First, cutaneous disease may serve as the initial or only
problem that the patient suffers for much of the course of the HIV infection. Second, serious
opportunistic infections may present for the first time in the skin, so that a skin lesion may be
a harbinger of the patient's having a life-threatening illness. Third, skin disorders in these …

As HIV-infected patients are surviving longer, quality of-life issues are becoming
increasingly important. Skin manifestations may be both initial clues to diagnosis of HIV
infection and serious infectious complica-tions. Furthermore, skin diseases are often the
source of severe morbidity, since they are frequently maddeningly symptomatic and/or
cosmetically disfiguring Thus, it is important that caretakers of HIV-infected individuals are
skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous manifestations of HIV disease …