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Professor
Rigshospital, University of Copenhagen
Director
Centre of Excellence for Health, Immunity and Infection (CHIP)
Rigshospital, University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
Jens D. Lundgren, MD, DMSc, has no relevant conflicts of interest to report.
Prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people with HIV (PWH) should be intensified when the underlying risk of CVD is high. European AIDS Clinical Society guidelines recommend determining the underlying CVD risk annually in any male PWH older than 40 years of age and any female PWH older than 50 years. Patient modifiable risk factors such as smoking may exacerbate CVD risk. Obesity also is associated with excess risk of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. By modifying factors that may be within the patient’s control, the underlying risk of CVD can be reduced substantially.
Removing or Replacing Medicines Associated With CVD Risk
As prescribers, we can either add or replace medicine to reduce the underlying CVD risk. Medicines that reduce CVD risk include statins, antihypertensives, and diabetic medication, and the indication for the use of these medicines in PWH is similar to the use in the general population. Current HIV guidelines also provide detailed information on possible drug‒drug interactions with HIV medicines.
Antiretrovirals (ARVs) and CVD Risk
Although studies have shown that contemporary HIV medicines do not directly increase the risk of hypertension or diabetes, we still can remove or replace medicines associated with CVD if such modifications do not adversely affect other conditions. For antiretroviral therapy (ART), the 2 contemporaneously used drugs are abacavir (ABC) or boosted darunavir (DRV). Current guidelines recommend avoiding ABC and boosted DRV in patients with elevated risk of CVD, provided that the patient can be switched to other ARVs.
However, the strength of evidence associating certain ARVs with an increased CVD risk is growing.
Your Thoughts?
How often does CVD risk influence ART selection for your patients? Join the discussion by posting a comment.
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