The purpose of this study was to examine whether HIV infection affects either the echographic or laboratory profiles of renal insufficiency. This prospective study compared both echographic (kidney size, Hricak's cortical echogenicity grades) and laboratory (blood urea and creatine) profiles in two groups of patients with renal insufficiency: one group HIV-positive (25 cases) and the other HIV-negative (86 patients). Kidney size was generally normal in the HIV-negative group. In the HIV-positive group, it was either normal or enlarged, especially in thickness, with a spherical appearance. Echogenicity grades were high in both groups, and no HIV-positive patients were at grade I; 25.6% of the seronegative patients and 20% of seropositive patients were at grade II, and 57% and 68%, respectively, were at grade III. The correlation between ultrasound grades and laboratory results did not differ significantly between the two groups (p = 0.0669 for creatinemia and p = 0.0560 for uremia), although the rates tended to increase with echogenicity grade and were slightly lower in the HIV-positive group. The authors conclude that HIV infection does not seem to affect the ultrasound or laboratory profiles of renal insufficiency. Thickening of the kidney and any spherical aspect should however suggest to the practitioner that the renal insufficiency may be related to HIV.