Dear colleagues,

This newsletter provides an update o­n the D:A:D study, started in 1999 to assess whether combination anti-retroviral drugs accelerate the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Recently the process of completing the third merger of the data was completed. A total of 23,468 patients have now been included in the study providing 36,200 years of prospective follow-up. More than 90% of the patients have recent follow-up information. We encourage the sites to continue to follow closely patients involved in D:A:D and to promptly report any case of cardiovascular disease to the coordinating centre. Also, please provide details o­n all causes of death using the new version of the form for fatal cases. D:A:D has received funding that will allow the study to continue until through the first quarter of 2005.

The final analysis and scientific findings based o­n the 3rd merger have recently been completed. The 3rd merger contains information o­n follow-up through January 2002. The essentials will be presented at the upcoming CROI meeting in Boston o­n Thursday, Feb. 13th during the morning session (presenting author: N Friis-Møller). A position statement will appear o­n the web site (www.cphiv.dk) immediately after the presentation. We kindly refer you to this document. Already posted o­n the web site are the essential characteristics of the cohort at baseline. Based o­n the data, a manuscript is currently submitted for peer-review.

The first manuscript from the D:A:D collaboration (Law et al) was published in the January issue of HIV Medicine (read article) . The article describes the results of modeling various expected outcome scenarios based o­n baseline information. This is interesting when comparing the results of the actual observed outcome to the models. A second paper, extensively describing the cohort at baseline, is in press at AIDS.

Please continue to check this web site for updates. 2003 will be an important year for D:A:D.

Best regards,

Updated: 13 Jan 2006