Left ventricular hypertrophy detected by echocardiography in HIV-infected patients

•In this series, people with HIV infection shows a 20% of prevalence of LVH•Ten years of cardiovascular risk is in relationship with LVH.•Role of antiretroviral treatment must be ellucidated.

BackgroundLeft ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a predictor of overall mortality in the general population. The most sensitive diagnostic method is transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). In this study, we describe the prevalence of LVH, and the factors associated with it, in a group of patients with HIV infection.MethodsTTE was offered to all patients attending the outpatient clinic of the Hospital Costa del Sol (Marbella, Spain) between 1 December 2009 and 28 February 2011. The corresponding demographic and clinical data were obtained. The left ventricular mass (LVM) was calculated and indexed by height2.7. LVH was defined as LVM > 48 g/m2.7 in men or > 44 g/m2.7 in women.ResultsWe examined 388 individuals (75.5% male, mean age 45.38 years). Of these, 76.1% were receiving HAART; 11.9% had hypertension, 6.2% had diabetes mellitus, 23.2% had dyslipidaemia and 53.6% were tobacco users. The risk of cardiovascular disease at 10 years (RV10) was 12.15% (95%CI: 10.99-13.31%). 19.1% of these patients had a high RV10. A total of 69 patients (19.8%) presented high LVM. Age, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, RV10 and the use of nevirapine were associated with a greater presence of LVH in the univariate analysis. In the logistic regression analysis performed, the factors retained in the model were the presence of high RV10 (OR: 2.92, 95%CI: 1.39-6.15) and the use of nevirapine (OR 2.20, 95%CI: 1.18-4.14).ConclusionsIn this group of patients, the use of nevirapine and the presence of high RV10 were associated with LVH. The use of nevirapine might be related to its prescription for patients with higher RV10.