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Cardiac function in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection and with no other active infections
L Thuesen1, A Møller, B O Kristensen
1Department of Cardiology, Skejby Hospital, Arhus.
Insights
Cardiac function in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients appears normal, with echocardiographic measures like fractional shortening and E/A ratio not predicting survival. These findings suggest HIV may not be a direct cardiac pathogen in uncomplicated cases.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can impact various organ systems, including the cardiovascular system.
- Understanding cardiac function in HIV-infected individuals is crucial for comprehensive patient management.
- Echocardiography is a key non-invasive tool for assessing cardiac structure and function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate cardiac function in patients with uncomplicated HIV infection using echocardiography.
- To determine the prognostic significance of echocardiographic findings in relation to survival time.
- To investigate whether HIV is a direct cardiac pathogen in this patient population.
Main Methods:
- Doppler echocardiography was performed on 60 male HIV-infected patients without active infections.
- A control group of 36 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects was included for comparison.
- Patient survival was monitored for 36 months post-echocardiographic examination.
Main Results:
- No significant pericardial effusions, intracardiac tumors, valvular endocarditis, or dilated cardiomyopathy were observed.
- Echocardiographic fractional shortening and E/A ratio remained within normal limits compared to controls.
- A slightly decreased E/A ratio was noted in AIDS patients, attributed to increased heart rate, but did not correlate with survival.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac abnormalities are uncommon in HIV-infected patients without other active infections.
- Echocardiographic fractional shortening and E/A ratio do not predict survival in this cohort.
- The study does not provide evidence for HIV acting as a direct cardiac pathogen.
Objective:
to investigate cardiac function and prognostic significance of echocardiographic findings in patients with uncomplicated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infection.
Patients And Methods:
Doppler echocardiography was performed in 60 male patients with HIV-infection and no signs of other active infections, and in 36 age and sex matched normal control subjects. The survival time of the patients was assessed 36 months after the echocardiographic examination.
Results:
None of the patients had significant pericardial effusions, intracardiac tumors, signs of valvular endocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy. In none of the patients were the fractional shortening or the early and atrial mitral flow ration (E/A ratio) below the 95% confidence limit of the control group. The E/A ratio was slightly, but significantly, decreased in AIDS patients both as compared to asymptomatic HIV-infected patients and as compared to normal control subjects because of increased heart rated in the AIDS patients. Within the three-year observation period, 28 of the patients died from HIV-related disease. In the group of deceased patients, there was no significant correlation between blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular diameters, fractional shortening, E/A ratio and the survival time.
Conclusion:
In a population of HIV-infected patients with no other active infections, cardiac abnormalities seen to be uncommon, and the echocardiographic fractional shortening and E/A ratio were not related to the survival time of such patients. Thus, our data does not evidence that HIV is a direct cardiac pathogen.