How do you use CD4% in clinical practice in management of patients living with HIV?   

This always confused us AIDS doctors a little, since "The measurement of absolute CD4+ T-cell levels in whole blood is the product of three laboratory techniques: the white blood cell (WBC) count; the percentage of WBCs that are lymphocytes (differential); and the percentage of lymphocytes that are ...

Perhaps a slightly different perspective: The CD4 percentage is invaluable in specific scenarios. Since the absolute CD4 count depends on the total WBC count and the lymphocyte percentage, the CD4 count can vary widely based on context, while the CD4 percentage is typically the more stable and reli...

I often use the CD4% to follow trends over time, particularly if there is an abrupt drop in the absolute CD4 (e.g., in acute illness). It can be informative for us as well as for consulting teams and the patients to see that the marker of immune function is actually stable when the absolute CD4 look...

Hi - although the clinical lab may provide the %CD4, the much more important number is the actual CD4 T cell count, which should be checked at least once a year, if not more often if ART was just initiated and the CD4 count is very low. Of course, one should make sure that the patient is not also in...