Document Type

Article

Department

Internal Medicine (East Africa)

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection encompasses a wide range of pathologic entities, including myocardial, pericardial, and endocardial disease, atherosclerosis, arrhythmias, and vasculitis. The most common manifestations of HIV-associated heart disease in sub- Saharan Africa are pericarditis, cardiomyopathy, and pulmonary hypertension [1]. Coronary artery disease, lipodystrophy, and metabolic syndrome, although common in developed countries, are traditionally thought to be less clinically significant problems in the African subcontinent [2]. It is well known that prolongation of the QTC interval can predispose patients to potentially fatal ventricular tachyarrhythmias, particularly torsades de pointes, and thus is an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [3].

Publication (Name of Journal)

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License

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