title: Echocardiographic assessment of systolic pulmonary arterial pressure in HIV-positive patients.
abstract: Pulmonary hypertension is rare but is one of the complications that occur due to HIV infection. Symptoms of HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension are often non-specific but the main symptom of the disease is dyspnea. In this cross-sectional study, we measured systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP) by echocardiographic methods among HIV-positive patients who received ART. This research is a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 170 HIV-positive patients that was conducted in Imam-Khomeini hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2011-2013. All patients regularly received antiretroviral therapy at least for recent 2 years. There were not any cardiopulmonary symptoms (cough, dyspnea, exertional fatigue and chest discomfort) in these patients. All participants underwent echocardiography to estimate SPAP. The participants comprised 108 males (63.5%) and 62 females (46.5%). The mean age of patients was 41 years old, and the mean duration of HIV infection was 5.5 years. The mean CD4 cell count was 401 cell/µl. The principal regimen of antiretroviral therapy included two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) in the hospital. The mean of systolic pulmonary arterial pressure was 25 mmHg in the participants; 156 (93.4%) of them had SPAP ≤ 30 mmHg (normal), six (3.6%) had SPAP: 31-35 mmHg (borderline) and five (3%) had SPAP > 35 mmHg (pulmonary hypertension). Our results indicated a significant increase of pulmonary hypertension in asymptomatic HIV-positive patients that had no association with any other risk factor. Also, antiretroviral therapy was not a risk factor for pulmonary hypertension in this study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mehrnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasoulinejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Amir Alam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moradmand Badie
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.affiliation: Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS (IRCHA), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Seyed Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Seyed Alinaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Dehghan Manshadi
authors.affiliation: Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS (IRCHA), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zakerzadeh
authors.affiliation: Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS (IRCHA), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foroughi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jahanjo Amin Abad
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Flinders University, Flinders, South Australia. Salehi.mohamad3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Banafsheh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moradmand Badie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents