HIV + Hep C Coinfection Not Tied to Increased Type 1 MI Risk

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For people with HIV (PWH), hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is not associated with an increased risk for type 1 myocardial infarction (T1MI), but the risk with increasing age is magnified for those with versus without HCV, according to a study published online Sept. 21 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Raynell Lang, M.D., from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and colleagues used data from the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2017, involving PWH aged 40 to 79 years who had initiated antiretroviral therapy to examine whether HCV coinfection increases the risks for T1MI.

Overall, 20 percent of the 23,361 PWH had HCV. The researchers found 89 T1MIs among PWH with HCV and 314 among PWH without HCV (1.9 and 1.7 percent, respectively). In PWH, HCV was not associated with a significantly increased risk for T1MI (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.98; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.74 to 1.30). The risk for T1MI increased with age and was higher for those with versus those without HCV (adjusted hazard ratio [95 percent confidence interval] per 10-year increase in age, 1.85 [1.38 to 2.48] versus 1.30 [1.13 to 1.50]).

“Clinicians should be aware that age may be a more significant risk factor for T1MI among PWH with HCV, prompting assessment and mitigation of additional cardiovascular disease risk factors and promoting HCV treatment,” the authors write. “Further understanding of the complex interplay of factors impacting cardiovascular risk as PWH age will improve their long-term care and well-being.”

One author disclosed financial ties to Trio Health.

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