Incidence of cardiac abnormalities in children with human immunodeficiency virus infection: The prospective P²C² HIV study

Objective: To describe the 5-year cumulative incidence of cardiac dysfunction in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children. Study design: We used a prospective cohort design, enrolling children at 10 hospitals. Group I included 205 vertically HIV-infected children enrolled at a median age of 1.9 years. Group II consisted of 600 HIV-exposed children enrolled prenatally or as neonates, of whom 93 were ultimately HIV-infected. The main outcome measures were echocardiographic indexes of left ventricular dysfunction. Results: In group I, the 5-year cumulative incidence of left ventricular fractional shortening ≤25% was 28.0%. The 5-year incidence of left ventricular end-diastolic dilatation was 21.7%, and heart failure and/or the use of cardiac medications 28.8%. The mortality rate 1 year after the diagnosis of heart failure was 52.5% [95% CI, 30.5-74.5]. Within group II, the 5-year cumulative incidence of decreased fractional shortening was 10.7% in the HIV-infected compared with 3.1% in the HIV-uninfected children (P = .01). Left ventricular dilation, heart failure, and/or the use of cardiac medications were more common in infected compared with uninfected children. Conclusions: During 5 years of follow-up, cardiac dysfunction occurred in 18% to 39% of HIV-infected children and was associated with an increased risk of death. We recommend that HIV-infected children undergo routine echocardiographic surveillance for cardiac abnormalities.