FREQUENCY OF MYOCARDITIS, LEFT VENTRICULAR DYSFUNCTION AND VENTRICULAR

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To evaluate possible relations between clinical and histopathologic cardiac findings in patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 58 consecutively autopsied AIDS patients were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty-six (45%) had histopathologic myocarditis. Fifteen of these 26 (58%) had >1 clinical cardiac abnormalities: 6 had congestive heart failure or left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, or both, 4 had ventricular tachycardia (VT), 10 had electrocardiographic abnormalities, and 4 had pericardial abnormalities. Of the 32 patients without myocarditis. 6 (19%) had pericardial or electrocardiographic abnormalities, or both, but none had congestive heart failure, LV dysfunction or VT. Overall, clinical cardiac abnormalities were found in 21 patients (36%). Patients with myocarditis had a significantly higher incidence of clinical cardiac abnormalities than patients without myocarditis (58% vs 19%, p <0.01). All patients with congestive heart failure, LV dysfunction or VT had myocarditis. Thus, serious clinical cardiac abnormalities were common in patients with AIDS and were associated with myocarditis.