HIV induced pericarditis epidemiology and demographics


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

Epidemiology and demographics
Pericardial diseases in the form of pericardial effusion or cardiac tamponade   have been recognized as complications since HIV infection was first reported in 1981.


 * In a small autopsy study, 24% cases were reported with major cardiac pathology.


 * Another autopsy study reported 9% cardiac lesions consisting of fibrinous pericarditis with or without effusion in AIDS patients.


 * The incidence of pericardial effusion in patients with asymptomatic AIDS was 11% per year before the introduction of effective highly active antiretroviral therapy(HAART). The 6 month survival rate of AIDS patients with effusion was significantly shorter (36%) than the survival rate without effusions (93%). This shortened survival rate remained statistically significant after adjustment for lead-time bias and was independent of CD4 count and albumin level.


 * The incidence of AIDS-related cardiac disease is very high in Africa in comparison to that seen in the developed countries. In the period from 1993 to 1999 in Burkina Faso,79% of AIDS patients exhibited cardiac involvement, whereas in an Italian study during the period 1992 to 1995, the incidence of AIDS-related cardiac disease was 6.5%.