Cardiac function in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection and with no other active infections.

OBJECTIVE

to investigate cardiac function and prognostic significance of echocardiographic findings in patients with uncomplicated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infection.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Doppler echocardiography was performed in 60 male patients with HIV-infection and no signs of other active infections, and in 36 age and sex matched normal control subjects. The survival time of the patients was assessed 36 months after the echocardiographic examination.

RESULTS

None of the patients had significant pericardial effusions, intracardiac tumors, signs of valvular endocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy. In none of the patients were the fractional shortening or the early and atrial mitral flow ration (E/A ratio) below the 95% confidence limit of the control group. The E/A ratio was slightly, but significantly, decreased in AIDS patients both as compared to asymptomatic HIV-infected patients and as compared to normal control subjects because of increased heart rated in the AIDS patients. Within the three-year observation period, 28 of the patients died from HIV-related disease. In the group of deceased patients, there was no significant correlation between blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular diameters, fractional shortening, E/A ratio and the survival time.

CONCLUSION

In a population of HIV-infected patients with no other active infections, cardiac abnormalities seen to be uncommon, and the echocardiographic fractional shortening and E/A ratio were not related to the survival time of such patients. Thus, our data does not evidence that HIV is a direct cardiac pathogen.