HIV induced pericarditis pathophysiology


 * Associate Editor-In-Chief: Varun Kumar, M.B.B.S.; Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, M.B.B.S.

Pathophysiology
Patients with advanced HIV have pericardial involvement at some point and the most common abnormality is pericardial effusion.


 * Asymptomatic effusions are mostly small and idiopathic.
 * In advanced HIV disease, effusions are a part of generalized seroeffusive process (capillary leak) involving pleural and peritoneal surfaces, possibly related to enhanced cytokine expression, resulting in moderate to large effusions.
 * Congestive heart failure, Kaposi sarcoma, and Tuberculosis are independently associated with moderate to large effusions.