Cardiac complications in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS): a review

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has become an increasingly important health problem worldwide. This review focuses on its cardiac complications. The key elements in the clinical syndrome are the opportunistic infections and the cancer that occur as a by-product of the immunodeficiency process. However, as early diagnosis, aggressive therapy and better supportive care become increasingly available, with consequently longer survival rates, cardiac lesions other than those due to opportunistic infections or malignancy should be seen. Cardiac complications are described in terms of the pathologic lesions, the clinical manifestations that ensue as a result of the pathologic lesions and the cardiac abnormalities that can occur from administration of the various therapeutic agents in the syndrome.