Babies of HIV-Infected Mothers Have Persistent
Heart Problems

Lancet June, 2002 - Infants born to mothers
infected with HIV have left ventricular (LV)
dysfunction regardless of their HIV status,
according to results of a study in the  online
edition of The Lancet for June 18.
	"Differences in the heart's structure
and function in uninfected children born to
HIV-infected mothers were milder and tended to
dissipate over time compared to changes found
in HIV-infected children," study co-author Dr.
George Sopko said. NIH funded the trial.
	Included in this 5-year study were 86
infants infected with HIV and 428 uninfected
infants born to HIV-infected mothers. There was
a comparison group of 195 babies born to
uninfected mothers.
	Reduced heart contraction strength as
measured by echo were clear in both groups of
infants born to HIV-infected mothers. Researchers
think the cause may be abnormalities in the
uterine environment.
	Measures of fractional shortening (like EF),
increased heart size, and fast heart rate improved
more quickly in noninfected babies. Fractional
shortening followed a natural decline with age,
beginning by 8 months in the uninfected children,
but it did not do so in those with HIV.
	The heart's contracting strength was lower
in infected children, but both groups remained
lower than babies in the control group. Heart size
increased in the infected children, but not in the
babies between 12 and 30 months.
	Heart rates, similar at birth in the two
groups, later averaged 13 beats higher per minute
in the infected babies and 3 beats per minute in
babies in the control group.

Published online June 18, 2002
http://image.thelancet.com/