People with heart failure who are infected with HIV face a higher risk of sudden cardiac death than others with heart failure, according to a new study.
The retrospective study involved 2,149 people hospitalized with heart failure without an implantable cardioverter defibrillator—a device that detects a life-threatening, rapid heartbeat—including 344 people with HIV. During a median follow-up of 19 months, 191 sudden cardiac deaths occurred. The researchers found that people with HIV were three times as likely to experience sudden cardiac death than other subjects.
The study, funded in part by NHLBI, appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.