Venous thromboembolic disease in the HIV-infected patient.
OBJECTIVE
Infection with the HIV has developed into a chronic illness, with longer-term complications increasingly being seen. There is increasing evidence that infection with HIV may be associated with a hypercoagulable state. This study examines the association of HIV infection with the incidence of both pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis.


METHODS
This study was a weighted analysis of data from National Hospital Discharge Survey, a national annual probability survey of discharges from short-stay non-Federal hospitals, from 1996-2004. The risk of pulmonary embolism and/or deep venous thrombosis in an HIV+ individual was ascertained for each age group by calculation of an odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A common OR was computed across strata to evaluate the overall association between PE/DVT and HIV while adjusting for effects of age.


RESULTS
The overall age-adjusted OR indicates a statistically significant increase of 43% for PE in HIV+ individuals as opposed to HIV- individuals (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.39-1.46). This increase differs by age group, with age group 21 to 50 years having the highest odds for PE among HIV+ individuals (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.54-1.63).


CONCLUSIONS
The data supports the hypothesis that HIV-infected individuals are more likely to have clinically detected thromboembolic disease as opposed to non-HIV-infected individuals. This study reveals up to a 43% increase in OR of developing a PE, 10% increase in developing a DVT, and 40% increase in developing PE or DVT in an HIV-infected individual over the 9-year study period after adjusting for age.
Malek
Jasmine
J
Department of Emergency Medicine, Washington Hospital Center/Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC 20010, USA. jasminemalekmd@gmail.com
Rogers
Robert
R
Kufera
Joseph
J
Hirshon
Jon Mark
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult