Arrhythmias & electrophysiologyCross-sectional study
HIV Infection Is Associated With Variability in Ventricular Repolarization
- Cross-sectional study
- multicentre cohort (MACS)
- ambulatory ECG patch
- linear mixed-effects models, adjusted
Beat-to-beat analysis of up to 4 days of ECG data per participant; median analysed duration 78.3 [66.3-83.0] hours/person
Authors' conclusion
HIV+ men have greater beat-to-beat variability in QT interval (QTVI) than HIV- men, especially in the setting of HIV viremia and heightened inflammation.
Study context
- Population
- Men from MACS (Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study) with ambulatory ECG patch monitoringmen, MACS
- Participants
- 1,123 men
- Exposure
- HIV+ vs HIV- men
- HIV+n = 589
- HIV-n = 534reference
- Outcome
- QT variability index (QTVI; log measure of QT-interval variance indexed to heart rate variance)
Main finding
QTVI
Adjusted difference
+0.077
95% CI +0.032 to +0.123
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | adjusted difference (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| QTVI by HIV viral load (subgroup) — HIV+ undetectable VL vs HIV- | +0.064 (+0.017 to +0.111) |
| QTVI by HIV viral load (subgroup) — HIV+ detectable VL vs HIV- | +0.150 (0.072–0.228) |
QT variability index (QTVI) subcomponents
- HIV+ men had lower heart rate variability irrespective of viral load (VL) status
- HIV+ men had higher QT variability with detectable, but not undetectable, VL
Inflammatory biomarkers
- Higher CRP, IL-6, ICAM-1, sTNFR2 and sCD163 (borderline) associated with higher QTVI and partially attenuated the association with HIV serostatus
Original publication
HIV Infection Is Associated With Variability in Ventricular Repolarization. Circulation. Published 11 November 2019. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.119.043042
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it