CV Risk in HIV Patients Is Mitigated by Standard Treatment

Traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention interventions can help promote CV health and mitigate future costs in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers assessed data on 8791 patients with HIV enrolled in the national AIDS Therapy Evaluation in The Netherlands (ATHENA) cohort. All patients included in the study had been treated with combination antiretroviral (cART) therapy.
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The researchers used a CVD model to assess patients as they aged, developed CVD, and initiated CV medication. They also assessed 4 prevention interventions.

According to model findings, that CVD incidence and costs are estimated to increase by 55% and 36% between 2015 and 2030. The researchers also predicted that the use of traditional CVD prevention interventions with an emphasis on high-risk patients will help avert the largest number of annual CVD cases (13.1% and 20%) compared with HIV-related interventions.

“Traditional CVD prevention interventions can maximize cardiovascular health and defray future costs, particularly if targeting high-risk patients,” the researchers concluded. “Quantifying additional public health benefits, beyond CVD, is likely to provide further evidence for policy development.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Smit M, van Zoest RA, Nichols BE, et al. Cardiovascular disease prevention policy in human immunodeficiency virus: recommendations from a modeling study. Clin Infect Dis. 2018;66(5):743-750. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cix858.