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Pulmonary HTN updates..HIV and pulmonary HTN


  •   An association between HIV infection and pulmonary arterial hypertension was first reported in 1991.
    • ►  In population studies in which ECHO was used to estimate PA pressure, the incidence of PH ~0.5 % among patients with HIV infection
    • ►  a rate 6 to 12 times as high as in the general population.
    • ►  prevalence has not changed since 1991 despite the introduction of HAART
  •   The occurrence of pulmonary arterial hypertension is independent of the CD4 cell count, but it appears to be related to the duration of HIV infection.
  •   Many of these patients also have foreign-body emboli as a result of the use of intravenous drugs or portal hypertension due to a concomitant infection with hepatitis B or C.
  •   Still under discussion if HIV does directly infect endothelial cells, the mechanism of pulmonary hypertension in HIV infection is unclear.
  •   Postulated mechanism of HIV proteins like Envelope glycoprotein-120(Env), transactivator of transcription (Tat) and HIV negative factor (Nef). 
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