Anatomy of the Heart: Difference between revisions

Contemporary antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment strategies for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have led to a decrease in acute immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related (fatal) events <cite>1</cite>. Consequently, life expectancy of HIV-positive patients has improved dramatically, which is now quite comparable to HIV-negative populations <cite>2</cite><cite>3</cite>. Inferably, there has been a shift from opportunistic AIDS-related diseases to non-infectious co-morbidity, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).<cite>4</cite> The World Health Organization recently estimated that both CVD and HIV will be in the top 3 causes for both global mortality as well as global disability-adjusted life-years in the year 2030, indicating that the interrelation between the two diseases will be an important challenge in global public health in the near future ().

Cardiovascular fatal events comprise 7-15% of total fatal events in HIV-infected patients ( ). Compared with the non-infected population, HIV-infected patients are at increased risk for CVD (20400883, 17456578), even in HIV-infected patients treated with antiretroviral drugs ( pmid=21811144). Moreover, the age at which CVD surfaces in HIV-infected patients was found to be substantially lower compared with the general non-infected population, suggesting an accelerated atherosclerotic process (PMID:23369416). Several recent reports suggest an important association between HIV-infection, ART, and CVD. Most likely, a combination of factors is involved in the relationship between HIV and the heart, which implicates that the HIV-infected population may benefit from a tailored approach to CVD prevention and management. The attributing factors and their relevance in the management of CVD in HIV-positive patients will be discussed in detail in the next paragraphs.