Cardiovascular Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Patients: A Strain Echocardiography Study

Aim: The availability of antiretroviral treatments (ART) has transformedHuman Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) management, turningit from a fatal infection into a manageable chronic condition byeffectively reducing viral replication and enhancing patient survivalrates. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increasingly recognized asa leading cause of morbidity and death among people living withHIV, highlighting the need to monitor potential adverse effects ofART on the cardiovascular system. This study assessed the cardiovasculareffects of ART in a cohort of HIV-infected patients byanalyzing laboratory, echocardiographic strain, and demographicdata before and after treatment.Material and Methods: A total of 56 patients who attended theinfectious diseases clinic and were scheduled to receive ARTtreatment were included in the study. A comprehensive cardiovascularassessment, comprising anamnesis, electrocardiogram, andtransthoracic strain echocardiography, was conducted before andthree months after the initiation of ART therapy.Results: Examination of lipid parameter changes across treatmentregimens revealed a statistically significant elevation in totalcholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and highdensitylipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the group treated with tenofoviralafenamide following treatment initiation. Regarding echocardiographicparameters evaluated post-treatment, there was nostatistically significant change observed in left ventricular systolicfunction (LVEF) and diastolic function (septal E/e’ratio) (60.81±5.5vs. 61.16±4.3, p=0.313, and 9.23±2.2 vs. 9.43±2.6, p=0.214, respectively).Notably, a significant improvement was observed inleft ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS), with valueschanging from -18.74±2.9 to -19.75±2.4 (p