Purpose: This study evaluated with ultrasonography (US) the presence of epiaortic vessel lesions in HIV-positive individuals receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and compared them with naïve patients and healthy individuals to highlight the differences among the different vascular damage patterns.
Materials and methods: A total of 222 HIV-infected patients receiving HAART, 64 HIV-infected patients naïve to antiretroviral therapy and 135 HIV-negative control patients underwent US of the carotid vessels. The morphological examination included grey-scale and colour and power Doppler imaging to better characterise lesions and intima media thickness. An automated computerised software package (Q LAB) was used to determine intima media thickness values. Independent risk factors for the development of carotid lesions and, in particular, cholesterolaemia and triglyceridaemia were considered. Atherosclerotic plaques and inflammatory-type lesions were reported. Statistical analysis included the chi-square test, the Fisher exact test for qualitative variables and the Kruskal-Wallis test to compare continuous variables.
Results: We observed a higher prevalence of carotid lesions in HIV-positive patients receiving HAART compared with HIV-positive naïve patients (p<0.0000001) and HIV-negative patients (p<0.0001). Findings consistent with inflammatory-type lesions rather than classic atheroma were depicted only in five patients receiving HAART (0.02%).
Conclusions: Our study confirms a higher prevalence of carotid lesions in HAART-treated HIV patients. In agreement with other authors, we identified carotid lesions that were consistent with arteritis rather than with classic atheroma, but the percentage was too small to suggest any robust hypothesis. Further studies are warranted to define the mechanism of onset of carotid lesions in HIV-positive individuals.