September 19, 2012

People With HIV Face Higher Risk of Death Following Heart Attack

HIV-positive people who experience a heart attack and require hospitalization are more likely to die, compared with those not infected with the virus, according to new data presented at the 52nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco.

The analysis of 1.5 million heart attack-related hospital admissions recorded by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Survey between 1997 and 2006 found that roughly 4 percent of those with HIV died, compared with 2 percent of those not infected the virus. After adjusting the data for numerous key differences between the two groups, the risk of death was roughly 38 percent higher among those infected with HIV.

Lead presenter Daniel Pearce, DO, of Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA, explained that reasons for this disparity are not yet clear, but noted HIV-positive patients were less likely to receive standard cardiovascular care procedures while hospitalized, notably antiocoagulant treatment, angiography, cardiac catheterization and/or bypass surgery.

“Additional mortality burden and lower procedure rates occur for HIV sero-positives receiving [heart attack] care,” the authors concluded. “Healthcare providers should be alert to the increased mortality burden when treating sero-positives with [heart attacks]. Studies to evaluate factors associated with this differential outcome are required.”

To read the 52nd ICAAC abstract, click here.

Search: heart attack, myocardial infarction, ami, hospitalization, inpatient, care, mortality, death

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TONYC, New York, 2012-09-27 02:54:49
part two I am still recovering in Sept12.I am turning 60yo this year, was in perfect health, w/o in my pool 3 times a week etc. This setback not only made me lose 30 pounds because no one was around, I would not have done it again and mainly because a pill will do the trick.I can still get a stroke, they did not clean out my arteries. I am on no blood thinners.So you need to weigh the odds, every person is different but my MD was excellent, NYU s**ks and weigh the odds

TONYC, New York, 2012-09-27 02:46:44
PART ONE I went through an ABLATIA procedure at NYU.I have been POZ for over 32 yrs&counting, a bout with Cancer in 2006, treated with 6 rounds of Chemo.Now all that history & I enter into the ablatia territory.If you don't know,it's for hearts that are AB FIB or miss a beat/ beat uncontrollably for periods..First,don't go to NYU unless you have mucho help waiting at home, I was ALONE!

bobby owen, poole, 2012-09-26 13:17:33
This dos not surprise me at ,i have been put at the back of the list for an operation,made to wait day after day while in hospital,and many times i have been told its because i am hiv so all the equipment needed has to be steralised so i have to be the last patient to be seen ,i am 54 now and i am dredding the day i have a heart attack .my own GP has admited to me he knows nothing about hiv so i have to tell him what i think i need, the goverment would rather we all died anyway,disability stoped