[Care for the patient with AIDS].

New concepts regarding the medical care of AIDS patients are described in this paper. Currently, new pharmacologic agents and their combinations with zidovudine are being evaluated in clinical trials to determine their efficacy in the treatment of HIV-infected patients. Nevertheless, zidovudine is still the mainstay of therapy in AIDS patients. Significant findings regarding monotherapy, combination therapy, and immunotherapy for the treatment of HIV infection are also discussed. There is considerable controversy on the optimal time to initiate therapy with antiretroviral agents. The clinician's decision to initiate antiretroviral therapy should consider the expectations of patients in the context of relative benefits and potential toxicities of therapy. The clinician must be aware that rigid universal therapy guidelines for all patients may not be appropriate. Currently available drugs are only palliative and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for early intervention is indispensable on the basis of recent knowledge of the extremely complex pathogenesis of HIV infection. At present time, the medical care of AIDS patients should be individualized and done in the context of the patient-physician relationship for therapeutic and nontherapeutic decisions.