HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: a clinical problem that is here to stay?

HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious complication of HIV infection and associated with high patient mortality. There are multiple similarities between HIV-associated PAH and idiopathic PAH and standard PAH medications have been used to treat the condition with reported success. Prior to the advent of highly active antiretroviral treatments (HAART), the prevalence of the condition in the HIV-infected population was estimated at 0.5%. In a recently published, large, prospective, multi-centre study performed in the HIV-population across France, the prevalence of HIV-associated PAH was estimated at 0.46%. In this article, we provide an overview of HIV-associated PAH and summarise the methodology, pertinent findings and implications of this important paper.