Some light reading on the names of the HIV medicines

[Guest guest]

ALIAS (a landing in an alphabet soup)

All medical specialties use short forms and acronyms, and I had

thought O & G (obstetrics and gynaecology) must be one of the top

contenders. However, a conference on HIV management really opened my

eyes.

No drug used in the management of HIV does not have a short form of

its own. Almost all the best combinations have now been used up,

like web addresses, and the newer discoveries will have to make do

with numbers or symbols.

Initially, it seemed a piece of cake: abacavir is called ABC,

atazanavir is called ATV, and indinavir is called IDV. No problems.

But then matters took a turn for the worse with zidovudine being

called AZT. I can understand the Z, but what are A and T doing

there? Next I was faced with didanosine and tenofovir. If I were

asked to devise their acronyms, I would have said DDN and TNF.

However, no one had asked me but had apparently consulted somebody

with a massive word ataxia, with the result that didanosine is

called ddl and tenofovir is TDF. Even better, the drug ritonavir is

simply known as/r (yes, it starts with an oblique sign).

We seemed to be returning to sanity when we were told SQV meant

saquinavir, but then we learnt that SQV also meant Fortovase, which

is also known as FTV. Just as I was recovering from that blow, I was

given a knockout punch-SQV and FTV can both stand for SGC. This must

be a world first-a short form for an acronym.

After that, matters grew more surreal. Can you guess what ddC and

d4T could mean? Well, ddC means zalcitabine (I knew you would guess

that one), and d4T means stavudine. Don't ask me where that 4 comes

from or what that weird capitalisation is all about. For that

matter, do not even think about how FTC can mean emtricitabine or

3TC can mean lamivudine.

At the end of the conference, feeling dazed and confused, I was

surrounded by a dozen upstarts, who started discussing all those

alphabets knowingly.

Reeling from this onslaught, I retaliated with a devastating

riposte: " You say you must use ABC or XYZ if the CD4 count comes

down.

Let me ask you a simple question. What is the full form of CD, as in

CD4 and CD8, and just how many of these CDs are there? "

I proudly tilted my nose upwards and walked out triumphantly.

Kishore Shah, head of obstetrics and gynaecology

Matru Seva Hospital, Pune, India (kshahsky@...)

accessed at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7524/1071