Echocardiography Assessment of Cardiac Function in Adults Living with HIV: A Speckle Tracking Study in the Era of Antiretroviral Therapy

Adults living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection (ALHIV) have high rates of cardiovascular events. New approaches are needed to detect subclinical cardiac dysfunction. We used conventional and speckle tracking echocardiography to investigate whether ALHIV display latent cardiac dysfunction. We analyzed 85 young subjects with HIV infection and free from cardiovascular risk factors (31 ± 4 years) and 80 matched healthy volunteers. We measured left ventricular (LV) layered global longitudinal strain, circumferential strain, peak longitudinal strain in the reservoir and contraction phases of the left atrium (LASr respectively LASct). In the HIV group, LV ejection fraction and s’ TDI (tissue doppler imaging) were slightly lower but still in the normal ranges. Layered longitudinal strain showed no significant difference, whereas circumferential global strain was significantly lower in the HIV group (−20.3 ± 3.9 vs. −22.3 ± 3.0, p < 0.001). LASr (34.3% ± 7.3% vs. 38.0% ± 6.9%, p < 0.001) was also lower in ALHIV and multivariate analysis showed that age (β = −0.737, p = 0.01) and infection duration (β = −0.221, p = 0.02) were independently associated with LASr. In the absence of cardiovascular risk factors, adults living with HIV display normal LV systolic function. Left atrial reservoir strain, is, however, decreased and suggests early diastolic dysfunction.