High Prevalence of Lower Extremity Medial Arterial Calcification in HIVinfected Patients With and Without Chronic Renal Disease: A Vascular Ultrasound Cross-sectional Study

Background: The association between HIV infection and increased risk of atherosclerotic peripheral artery disease (PAD) has been documented. Still, the relationship between HIV infection and lower extremity medial arterial calcification (MAC) is unknown. Objective: We performed a cross-sectional study to compare the frequency of MAC diagnosed by vascular ultrasound in PAD-asymptomatic people living with HIV (PLWH) with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared to HIV-uninfected participants as a control group. Methods: MAC was defined as smooth, linear, and non-stenotic hyperechogenicity in the arterial wall compared to the surrounding tissues. We studied 191 patients: 50 PLWH (25 with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >60 mL/min/1.73m2 and 25 with an eGFR