[Prevention of vertical transmission and side effects of antiretroviral therapy in children born to HIV-positive South Eastern area of Santiago, Chile: 15-years perspective]. / Prevención de la transmisión vertical y efectos secundarios de la terapia anti-retroviral en hijos nacidos de madres seropositivas para VIH en el área Sur-Oriente de Santiago, Chile: perspectiva de 15 años.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has shown to be an effective measure in decreasing HIV vertical transmission (VT). Nevertheless, it is not free from adverse effects in the newborn: risk of prematurity, low birth weight, metabolic disorders, among others. Despite the importance of the subject, there are few national data that analyze the problem. We performed a retrospective analysis of a cohort of HIV positive mother/child binomial, followed between 1995 and 2010. Ninety-four pregnancies and 96 children (2 twin pregnancies) were analyzed. The rate of VT was 2.1%. Adverse effects attributed to ART were found on 85.4% of the newborn; highlighting the presence of anemia (70.8%) and several metabolic disorders [elevated lactate without acidosis (29.2%), lactic acidosis (12.5%), hyperkalemia (14.6%), metabolic acidosis (9.4%)]. Maternal exposure to protease inhibitors proved to be an independent risk factor for the development of metabolic disorders in newborns (OR 0.15 [0.04-0.48], p < 0.01). In our series, ART was effective in reducing the VT, however exposed newborns showed a high frequency of adverse effects, so it is advisable to implement programs for monitoring these patients to prevent sequelae.