Cardiac Abnormalities in HIV-Positive Patients

Abstract

Background: The clinical presentation of cardiac abnormalities in HIV-infected patients may be atypical or masked by concurrent illnesses that lead to misdiagnosis or they remain undiagnosed; therefore, this study was aimed to determine the frequency of cardiac abnormalities in HIV-infected patients. Material and Methods: Consecutive HIV-infected patients of age >13 years were studied for 3 months, after obtaining their consent. After clinical assessment, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram, 2-dimensional echocardiography and serum Troponin T levels were done. Results: A total of 100 patients were studied, cardiomegaly was observed in the x-ray of 15% of them, abnormal electrocardiogram was seen in 18%, 2-dimensional echocardiography was abnormal in 67%; and diastolic dysfunction (42.8%) was the commonest abnormality followed by dilated cardiomyopathy (17.6%). Serum troponin T was elevated in 8%. The variables, opportunistic infections (OIs), antiretroviral therapy (ART), stage of HIV disease, and CD4 counts, did not affect the frequency of diastolic dysfunction. Conclusion: The diastolic dysfunction is the most common cardiac abnormality observed in HIV-infected patients.