Management of cardiovascular conditions in a cohort of patients with HIV: experience from a joint HIV/cardiology clinic.

The aim of this study was to assess cardiovascular diagnoses and management in a cohort of patients diagnosed with HIV, and the performance of a joint HIV/Cardiology Clinic in a tertiary hospital setting. A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients referred to a joint HIV/Cardiology Clinic at our hospital. Data on 120 patients were collected. In this predominantly male population (male 101 and female 19) coronary artery disease (CAD) was the most common diagnosis (34%, n = 41). Other diseases included hypertension (12.5%, n = 15), cardiomyopathy (12.5%, n = 15) and arrhythmia (6%, n = 8). The majority of remaining cases included non-cardiac chest pain and palpitations. In addition to usual primary and secondary preventive measures for CAD, complex procedures, such as percutaneous coronary intervention, cardiac resynchronisation therapy for left ventricular systolic dysfunction and radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmias, were carried out. Overall cardiovascular mortality among the group was 2.5% (n = 3) over 4 years. The results indicate the efficacy of a specialist joint HIV/Cardiology Clinic in diagnosing and managing various cardiac conditions in a complex cohort of patients with HIV.