Abstract

HIV-infected patients are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) is regarded as non-invasive test for diagnosing subclinical atherosclerosis (SA). Until now, there have been very few studies which have analysed SA in HIV patients using PWV measurements. Our objectives were to analyse the prevalence of SA in a Spanish cohort of HIV patients using PWV and compare it with the data published in seronegative population; it investigates the risk factors involved in SA, and it evaluates the possible correlation between values obtained using PWV and the Framingham (FRS) and SCORE systems. We carried out a cross-sectional study of 136 consecutive HIV-positive patients. PWV was measured using the Complior© system. Values of >12 m/s were considered as diagnostic of SA. Results: 11.4% patients had SA. In the univariate analysis SA was associated with age, type 2-DM, HBP (high blood pressure), anti-HCV-positive, a higher viral low (VL) for HIV at onset and a higher percentage on the 10-year FRS. Multivariate analysis showed only a relationship between SA and the age (p = 0.001) and anti-HCV-positive (p=0.02), in patients diagnosed over a longer period (p=0.0001) and elevated homocysteine levels (p= 0.02). Conclusions: The prevalence of SA in our HIV cohort was low. This was associated with age, and anti-HCV-positive with a longer diagnosis and higher homocysteine levels. PWV did not correlate with cardiovascular risk calculated according to the FRS and SCORE system.

Key words: Subclinical atherosclerosis, pulse wave velocity, HIV, cardiovascular risk factors