Prevalence and incidence of left ventricular dysfunction in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

The prevalence and incidence of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction was examined in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Sixty-nine randomly selected patients diagnosed with HIV infection who were followed in HIV clinics were prospectively evaluated by 2-dimensional echocardiography. Mean follow-up duration was 11 months. Additionally, 39 consecutive HIV-infected patients referred to the Cardiomyopathy Service and found to have LV dysfunction by 2-dimensional echocardiography were also studied. Of the 39 referred patients, 34 (87%) were referred for recent onset, unexplained, congestive heart failure. During this time, the HIV clinic population comprised 1,819 alive and actively followed patients; the 39 cardiomyopathy referrals therefore constituted a crude rate of 2.1% for this population. Of the 69 prospectively studied patients without clinical heart disease, a 14.5% prevalence of global LV hypokinesia and an incidence of 18%/patient-year were found. During a maximal 18-month follow-up period, 4 prospective patients (5.8%) developed symptoms of congestive heart failure. A greater proportion of prospective and referred patients with LV dysfunction had CD4 counts <100/mm³ (62 and 79%, respectively) than did that of those without LV dysfunction (35%). In conclusion, the high rate of unexpected LV dysfunction in this HIV-infected population suggests that early cardiac contractile abnormalities may involve a significant number of patients, most of whom have low CD4 counts. A subgroup of these patients appears to progress to symptomatic congestive heart failure.