Table 1. Patient's abnormal HIV labs (including HIV viral load, CD4 absolute count, and CD4%) across multiple encounters.

This patient presented during her first pregnancy at age 16 with abnormal HIV labs, including a high HIV viral load, low CD4 count, and low CD4%. A normal HIV viral load is considered "not detected", while a viral load of over 1,000 copies/mL is unsuppressed and >100,000 is very high. A CD4 count above 490 cells/mm³ and a CD4% above 30% are normal, while a CD4 count below 200 cells/mm³ and a CD4% less than 14% are diagnostic of AIDS. Though initiated on ART at this time, she continued to lack consistent treatment. When she re-presented during her second pregnancy at age 20, her CD4 count and CD4% had both decreased. She was repeatedly lost to follow-up. By age 26, her viral load had continued to rise while her CD4 count and CD4% had decreased, and she was officially diagnosed with AIDS. During her last hospital stay, shortly before being discharged to hospice, her viral load exceeded 3.7 million copies/mL while her CD4 count dropped to a mere 11 cells/mm³. The patient never achieved an undetectable HIV viral load nor a normal CD4 count.  

Reference ranges were derived from the authors' institution.

HIV: human immunodeficiency virus; ART: antiretroviral therapy; AIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; /mL: per milliliter of blood; /mm³: per cubic millimeter of blood

	Patient value (age 16)	Patient value (age 20)	Patient value (age 26)	Patient value (age 27)	Reference range
HIV viral load (copies/mL)	38,300	15,700	48,300	3,720,000	Not detected: normal; >1,000: unsuppressed; >100,000: very high
CD4 absolute count (cells/mm3)	236	222	<20	11	490-1,740: normal; <200: AIDS (severely immunocompromised)
CD4%	21.0	17.0	7.0	10.6	30.0-61.0: normal; <14.0: AIDS (severely immunocompromised)