Cardiac Abnormalities in People Living with HIV visiting ART Center of a Tertiary Hospital in Kaski, Nepal: A CrossSectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) by virtue of immune boost up has increased life span of People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection (PLHIV) and thus they are prone for late cardiovascular manifestations of infection. Age related atherosclerotic cardiovascular risks also accumulate on them. Therefore, this study aimed to assess cardiac abnormalities in those PLHIV taking ART.

Methods: It was a single center descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on those ART taking PLHIV who underwent extensive cardiac evaluation by a meticulous clinical examination and investigation with Chest X-Ray (CXR), Electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiography. Excluded were those with past history of heart disease, cardiac surgery and chronic systemic disease before the diagnosis of PLHIV and pregnant women.

Results: There were total of 381 PLHIV. There was male predominance (54.33%) with mean age of 44.7 years and average duration of ART was 7.8 years. Hypertension (18.9%) was the predominant co-morbid factor. Cardiovascular abnormalities detected by CXR, ECG and echocardiography were 39.3%, 64.6% and 48.8% respectively.

Conclusions: Cardiac abnormalities are common in ART taking PLHIV; hence comprehensive cardiovascular evaluation is need of the hour.