Screening and Assessment of Coronary Heart Disease in HIV-Infected Patients

uman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individ- uals are living longer in the era of antiretroviral therapy. As a result, they are increasingly prone to the development of concomitant chronic disease. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and Europe. Recent studies suggest that CHD rates may be increasing among HIV-infected patients (see Epidemiological Evidence for Cardiovascular Disease in HIV-Infected Patients and Relationship to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, Work- ing Group 2), and thus appropriate screening strategies for CHD in this population are needed. Recently, approaches to screening and assessment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HIV-infected individuals were discussed at a State of the Science Conference. Although insufficient evidence now exists to recommend a screening strategy for CHD in HIV that differs from that recommended in the non-HIV popula- tion, emerging risk factors and surrogate markers for athero- sclerosis unique to the HIV population suggest specific strategies that may be useful in this population. Two broad screening categories are discussed here. The first screening strategy seeks to define the pretest likelihood of disease by identifying the presence of predisposing risk factors such as hypertension, elevated serum cholesterol, cigarette smoking, and physical inactivity. The second screening strategy aims at the detection of established CHD, even in its earliest stages.