C. Sundararajan1, V. P. Kannan2, A. Mary Celestina3, C. Maghil Belinta4
BACKGROUND
HIV infection has become a global pandemic with more than 36 million people infected throughout the world. HIV related cardiac involvement has been reported with increasing frequency in recent years. The above study was undertaken to study the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities in HIV infected individuals and to correlate the cardiac abnormalities with stage of infection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We have conducted a cross-sectional study in the Department of Internal Medicine, Thanjavur Medical College and Hospital on the prevalence of cardiac manifestations among the parents living with HIV/ AIDS on ART. The duration of study was for a period of 6 months, August 2016 to January 2017. A total of 100 patients who were seropositive and who fit the inclusion criteria were chosen and an attempt was made out to find the prevalence of cardiac manifestations among them. All patients diagnosed to have HIV infection/ AIDS after ELISA test being positive were included in the study.
RESULTS
In our study among 100 patients, 30 patients (32.60%) had cardiac abnormalities either in the form of ECG or Echocardiography abnormality. It is observed that 1 patient out of 13 patients (7.69%) in Stage I, 7 patients out of 27 (25.92%) patients in Stage II, 11 patients out of 33 (33.33%) patients in Stage III and 11 patients out of 27 (40.74%) patients in Stage IV had cardiac abnormalities. There was a statistically significant correlation between cardiac abnormalities and CD4 count (P value was 0.02). As the stage of infection increases, the cardiac abnormalities increase proportionally. Cardiac abnormalities are directly proportional to the stage of infection.
CONCLUSION
Prevalence of cardiac abnormalities was 32.60% in our study. Diastolic dysfunction was the most common echocardiographic abnormality. Poor progression of R waves was the most common electrocardiographic abnormality. Cardiac abnormalities specifically correlated with stage of infection. People with cardiac abnormalities did not necessarily have cardiac symptoms and the frequency of cardiac symptoms did not correlate with the stage of infection in this study. Cardiac symptoms in HIV infected individuals are likely to be attributed to other concurrent illnesses and the cardiac abnormalities remain undiagnosed further contributing to the morbidity and mortality of HIV patients. Cardiac abnormalities correlated with the increase in the duration of infection and the decline in CD4 count.
