- CAD and ACS:
- Both HIV and anti-retroviral medications increase patients’ risk of cardiovascular disease
- HIV-infected patients tend to have a first episode of ACS at age 48 yrs, 10 years earlier than HIV negative patients
- Reasons for increased risk include higher rates of smoking in HIV+ patients (2-3 times greater than in general population) and accelerated atherosclerosis 2/2 chronic inflammation from HIV itself
- Some antiretroviral medications can cause insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, further increasing HIV-positive patients risk for CAD
- Arrhythmias:
- HIV/AIDS patients are also predisposed to arrhythmias (AF, QTc prolongation) which may be partly related to the effects of HIV on cardiac innervation and the autonomic nervous system
- Cardiomyopathy/Myopericarditis:
- Patients with AIDS can also develop a dilated cardiomyopathy or myocarditis 2/2 opportunistic infections (Toxoplasma, Cryptococcus, Candida, Aspergillus, etc.)
- AIDS patients are also at increased risk for pericardial effusions (2/2 malignancies such as Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma or TB pericarditis)
Pham TV. Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection–Related Heart Disease. Emergency medicine clinics of North America. 2015-08;33:613-622.
