HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is strongly associated with ischemic stroke in the young. Data obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample in the United States show an increase in the number of stroke hospitalizations in the HIV-infected population despite an overall decrease in the number of stroke hospitalizations. Few data exist, however, that address the mechanism of HIV-associated stroke. Recent studies have demonstrated that HIV may infect the endothelium and alter cerebrovascular functions...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has evolved from an illness that consistently led to death to a chronic disease that can be medically managed. Primary care clinicians can provide beneficial care to the individual patient and potentially decrease the transmission of HIV to others through appropriate HIV screening and recognition of clinical clues to both chronic and acute HIV. Most patients who take combination antiretroviral therapy experience immune reconstitution and resume normal lives. These patients benefit from the care of an experienced primary care clinician in addition to a clinician with HIV expertise...

Antiretroviral therapy has greatly increased longevity for individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. About 0.5% of patients with HIV infection develop moderate to severe pulmonary arterial hypertension, which is several thousand times higher than the incidence of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. As more than 30 million individuals are chronically infected, HIV infection could soon become one of the most common causes of pulmonary arterial hypertension worldwide. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a relentlessly progressive disease leading to right heart failure and death...

In recent years, the pathogenic role of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the clinical manifestations of HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (HIV-PAH), which currently represents one of the most severe complications of HIV infection, have received more attention HIV-PAH occurs at all stages of the disease, and does not seem to be related to the degree of immune deficiency. Many of the symptoms in HIV-PAH result from right ventricular dysfunction: the first clinical manifestation is effort intolerance and exertional dyspnoea that will progress to the point of breathlessness at rest...

Data support that hypertension (HTN) is prevalent among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients contributing to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Immunodeficiency and prolonged antiretroviral treatment along with common risk factors including older age, male gender, and high body mass index might conduce to greater incidence of HTN. The purpose of this review was to summarize recent evidence of the increased cardiovascular risk in these patents linking HIV infection to HTN.

AIMS: The contemporary impact of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic on heart disease in South Africa (>5 million people affected) is unknown. The Heart of Soweto Study provides a unique opportunity to identify the contribution of cardiac manifestations of this epidemic to de novo presentations of heart disease in an urban African community in epidemiological transition. METHODS AND RESULTS: Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital services the >1 million people living in Soweto, South Africa...

BACKGROUND: Persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are at risk for premature cardiovascular disease (CVD). Predictors of atherosclerotic disease progression in contemporary patients have not been well described. METHODS: Using data from a prospective observational cohort of adults infected with HIV (Study to Understand the Natural History of HIV/AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy), we assessed common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) at baseline and year 2 by ultrasound...

Antiretroviral therapy has been associated with side effects, either from the drug itself or in conjunction with the effects of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Here, we evaluated the side effects of the protease inhibitor (PI) indinavir in hamsters consuming a normal or high-fat diet. Indinavir treatment increased the hamster death rate and resulted in an increase in triglyceride, cholesterol and glucose serum levels and a reduction in anti-oxLDL auto-antibodies. The treatment led to histopathological alterations of the kidney and the heart...