Contribution of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic to de novo presentations of heart disease in the Heart of Soweto Study cohort

In this study from the Facultyof Health Sciences, Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa andIIDMM, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, the authors describedata from the Heart of Soweto Study investigating cardiac manifestations of HIV/AIDS to de novo presentations of heart disease in an urban African community.

518 of5328 de novo cases of heart disease were identified as HIV-positive (9.7%) with54% of these prescribed highly active anti-retroviral therapies onpresentation. The most common primary diagnosis attributable to HIV/AIDS wasHIV-related cardiomyopathy (196 cases, 38%). An additional 128 cases (25%) werediagnosed with pericarditis/pericardial effusion followed by a range of otherconcurrent diagnoses, including 42 cases (8.1%) of HIV-related pulmonaryarterial hypertension. Only 14 of all 581 cases of coronary artery disease(CAD) (2.4%, mean age 41 ± 13 years) were confirmed HIV-positive.

REFERENCE:

Sliwa K, Carrington MJ, Becker A,Thienemann F, Ntsekhe M, Stewart S.

Contributionof the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemicto de novo presentations of heart disease in the Heart of Soweto Study cohort.

Eur Heart J. 2011 Nov 1. [Epub ahead of print]