Cardiac effects of antiretroviral-naïve versus antiretroviral-exposed HIV infection in children

Abstract

Background Cardiac involvement in HIV infected children has been frequently reported, but whether this is due to HIV infection itself or to antiretroviral treatment (ART) is unknown. Methods This cross sectional study involved 114 vertically-acquired HIV-infected (56 ART-naive, 58 ART-exposed) and 51 healthy children in Jakarta, Indonesia. Echocardiography was performed to measure dimensions of the left ventricle (LV) and systolic functions. We applied general linear modeling to evaluate the associations between HIV infection/treatment status and cardiac parameters with further adjustment for potential confounders or explanatory variables. Findings are presented as (adjusted) mean difference..