Echocardiographic characteristics of pulmonary arterial hypertension in children with horizontally transmitted HIV.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of primitive pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) is estimated at approximately 0.5%, significantly higher than in the general population.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the echocardiographic modifications in HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A group of 117 patients, aged under 16, with horizontally transmitted HIV staged according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, were included in this prospective study, with echocardiographic abnormalities in 79 children. The study group consisted of 27 HIV-infected patients with PAH, while the control group consisted of 38 patients with normal ultrasound features. The diagnostic criterion for PAH was the presence of a mean pulmonary artery pressure above 25 mm Hg, determined at 2 consecutive measurements having at least 6 months distance between them. All subjects underwent a complex echocardiographic assessment, including assessment of left and right ventricular hypertrophy and evaluation of left ventricular function, associated with determination of the immunological stage.

RESULTS: We recorded the presence of PAH in 27 patients (23.08%), in whom an average value of 31.48 mm Hg was recorded for pulmonary artery pressure. All patients had mild forms of PAH. Age, gender and immunological stage showed no significant differences in the PAH group compared to patients in the control group. Right ventricular hypertrophy was encountered in 95.23% and left ventricular hypertrophy in 88.88% of the patients with PAH. Left ventricular dysfunction, a complication of pulmonary hypertension, was relatively rare (11.11%).

CONCLUSIONS: In children with HIV infection, PAH is present in a relatively mild form and does not correlate with the clinical and immunological stage of HIV infection, evolving as a seemingly primitive condition.