OBJECTIVE: Cardiac dysfunction is rarely diagnosed in HIV-infected children in our setting and standard care does not include baseline and follow-up echocardiography. We aimed to determine the prevalence, pattern and predictors of HIV-related cardiac dysfunction. METHODS: Pre-diagnosed HIV-infected children aged 18 months to 12 years from a tertiary teaching hospital in Lagos, South-West Nigeria were enrolled in a comparative, observational cross-sectional study; matched with apparently healthy controls of the same age group, were recruited sequentially between May 2004 and 2007. Proportions of pre-defined cardiac abnormalities such as heart failure diagnosed by clinical examination and dilated cardiomyopathy and ventricular dysfunction by echocardiography were determined. RESULTS: Prevalence of cardiac abnormalities in HIV-infected children was 75.9%. Abnormalities included heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy (33.7%), decreased LVSF of ≤ 25% in 33.7%, increased left ventricular mass (20.5%) and pericardial effusion (14.5%). CONCLUSION: Structural and functional abnormalities are prevalent in HIV-infected African children and therefore justify inclusion of routine echocardiography in their standard care.
