Updating Our Understanding of Pulmonary Disease Associated With HIV Infection

Management and prognosis of HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: 20 Years of evidence from the REHAP registry

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an independent predictor of death in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. HIV is the leading cause of PAH (HIV-PAH) worldwide.

AIMS

We described the characteristics, treatment patterns, and prognosis of a cohort of HIV-PAH patients and compared them with those of an equivalent cohort of patients with idiopathic/familial PAH (IPAH/FPAH).

METHODS

We retrospectively analysed and compared the demographic, clinical, and treatment data from patients with HIV-PAH and those with IPAH/FPAH in the Spanish PAH registry (REHAP) from 1998 to 2018. The HIV-PAH overall survival (OS) rate up to 5 years was compared to the age- and sex-matched IPAH/FPAH population. Changes in treatment patterns in patients with HIV-PAH after 2010 and their effects on OS were also analysed.

RESULTS

Compared to those with IPAH/FPAH (n = 739), patients with HIV-PAH (n = 132) were younger, mainly men, and had a better functional status. The clinical presentation, haemodynamics, and respiratory function were similar between the groups. Parenteral drug use was the most common mode of HIV transmission. Approximately 11% of patients with HIV-PAH did not receive PAH-targeted therapy. The age- and sex-adjusted 5-year OS rate from diagnosis was 74.0% for patients with HIV-PAH and 68.7% for those with IPAH (p < 0.159). During/after 2010, 23% of patients with IPAH/FPAH received upfront dual oral combination, while oral monotherapy remained the main first-line treatment in patients with HIV-PAH. The overall OS rate remained stable.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with HIV-PAH were predominantly young men. The short-term prognosis is similar to that of age- and sex-matched patients with IPAH/FPAH, despite a better functional status. Oral monotherapy remains the preferred first-line treatment in the current cohorts.

Trends in Epidemiology of COPD in HIV-Infected Patients in Spain (1997-2012)

Purpose

The aim of this study was to estimate trends of incidence of hospital admissions and in-hospital mortality (IHM) in HIV-infected patients with COPD in the combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) era in Spain (1997–2012).

Methods

A retrospective study with data from nationwide population-based COPD diagnoses in the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) was performed. We established groups according to their HIV and HCV infections: 1) HIV-uninfected patients; 2) HIV-infected patients (with or without HCV coinfection).

Results

1,580,207 patients discharge with a COPD diagnosis were included in the study, 8902 of them were HIV-infected patients (5000 HIV-monoinfected patients and 3902 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients). The HIV-infected patients had higher incidence rates of hospital admissions for COPD than the HIV-uninfected patients during the study period. The HIV-monoinfected patients had higher rates of hospitalizations for COPD than the HIV/HCV-coinfected patients in the early-period cART (1997–1999), but these rates decreased in the first group and increased in the second, being even similar in both groups in the late-period cART (2004–2011). On the other hand, the HIV-infected patients with COPD had higher IHM than the HIV-uninfected patients with COPD. The mortality rates were higher in the HIV-monoinfected patients with COPD than in the HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with COPD in the early-period cART; however, in the late-period cART, the mortality rates trends seems higher in the HIV/HCV group. The likelihood of death in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with COPD was similar to than in HIV-monoinfected patients with COPD.

Conclusions

Incidence of hospital admissions for COPD and IHM have decreased among HIV-monoinfected individuals but have increased steadily among HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals in the cART era.