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AIDS increases risk of stroke
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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with AIDS who have not received highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) are at greatly increased risk for both
ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, reinforcing theories that HIV
induces a prothrombotic state or induces vasculopathy.
Although the relationship between AIDS and stroke has been suggested, no
studies have quantified the risk within a defined population, Dr. John W. Cole and
associates note in the January issue of Stroke, Journal of the American Heart
Association.
The group abstracted information from records of patients ages 15 to 44 with
stroke in 1988 and in 1991 -- before the availability of HAART -- included in
the Baltimore-Washington Cooperative Young Stroke Study.
There were 386 ischemic strokes and 171 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage. In
both categories, six patients were diagnosed with AIDS (2.2%). Those with
AIDS did not differ significantly from those without AIDS in terms of traditional
risk factors.
The relative risk of stroke adjusted for age, race, and gender was 17.8 for
those with AIDS. When the authors excluded five cases in which other potential
causes of stroke were identified, the relative risk of 10.4 was still quite
high.
"Our findings are relevant to most AIDS patients worldwide who do not have
access to HAART," Dr. Cole's team suggests. Their findings provide a baseline
for comparing the risk of stroke when patients are treated with HAART.
Stroke 2004;35:51-56.
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