Arterial aneurysms associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection

The authors report four arterial aneurysms seen in three patients infected by HIV. The aneurysms affected: 1) the left common carotid artery in a young man HIV carrier, 2) the right common carotid artery and the abdominal aorta in a woman with AIDS, 3) the right common carotid artery in a patient with AIDS-related complex. The aetiology was found to be infectious, respectively: 1) staphylococcus epidermidis (certain), 2) tuberculosis or another undetected infection (possible), 3) staphylococcus epidermidis or syphilis (highly probable). A viral arteritis mechanism is also postulated in the second case. If this association of aneurysms with HIV infection is not fortuitous, an increase of aneurysm incidence in HIV infected population is to be expected.