Assessment of ventricular diastolic function in AIDS patients from Congo: a Doppler echocardiographic study

Objective To investigate the prevalence of left ventricular dysfunction in African patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The hypothesis was that HIV infected patients with left ventricular dysfunction are asymptomatic. Methods M mode, cross sectional, and Doppler echocardiography were performed in 49 consecutive patients (30 HIV positive (HIV+) carriers and 19 AIDS patients). None of the patients or 58 controls had a medical history of cardiovascular abnormalities. Results Cardiac abnormalities were not suspected on physical, electrocardiographic, and radiological examination. Forty two of the HIV infected patients had left ventricular diastolic dysfunction; this was more pronounced in AIDS patients than in HIV+ carriers. Systolic function was normal in both stages of HIV infection. Left ventricular isovolumic relaxation time (mean (SD)) increased from 87.2 (12.4) ms in the carrier state to 103.9 (19.3) ms in AIDS (p