The prevalence of cardiovascular risks in HIV-infected persons in care in Croatia in 2015

Aim:This review will aim at considering the prevalence of cardiovascular risks among the HIV-infected population undergoing ART therapy in Croatia: Cardiovascular diseases are now among the most common causes of mortality in people living with HIV. We will see for which reasons people living with HIV appear to have an elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases. ----- Method: A cross-sectional analysis of 310 consecutive HIV infected patients seen during a routine clinical visit aged 40 to 79 years was performed in Zagreb from June 2014 to March 2016. All the next cardiovascular risks factors were systematically assessed: age, gender, race, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, smoking, diabetes(blood glucose measurements), treated for high blood pressure (yes or no), past and current history of ART (particularly, duration of treatment including abacavir, indinavir and lopinavir (DAD)). Were also systematically collected CD4+ cell count, HIV viral load, family history of premature CVD, past medical history of CVD. ----- Results: Among the 310 persons included into the study, 42% were current smokers, 23% were hypertensive, 34% had Hypercholesterolemia (>6.2 mmol/L), 38% of patients were overweight, 12% were obese, 27% exhibited metabolic syndrome, 7.8% of patients had past cardiovascular event, 12.9% patients had a family history of premature cardiovascular event, 21% of patients were already treated for high blood pressure, 18.4% were already treated with lipid-lowering agents, 46% of the studied population had an abacavir-including antiretroviral regimen, 10% of patients had a detectable viral load, and 11.6% of patients had a low CD4+ cell count (