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In utero exposure to ART linked to decreased heart development, performance
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Exposure to HIV treatment in utero may increase infants’ risk for development deficiencies and reduced performance of the heart during childhood, according to study data.
Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, chair of the pediatrics department at Wayne State University, and colleagues compared development and long-term functioning of the heart among 428 children born to mothers with HIV vs. children unexposed to HIV or HIV treatment. Participants, from the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study, did not have HIV.
Steven E. Lipshultz
Findings indicated exposure to combination ART in the first trimester and certain ART medications were associated with lower stress-velocity z scores.
Lower left ventricular dimension z scores were associated with exposure to combination ART.
Participants exposed to combination ART in the first trimester had a greater mean left ventricular posterior wall thickness and lower mean left ventricular wall stress z scores, according to researchers.
“Subclinical differences in left ventricular structure and function with specific in utero antiviral exposures indicate the need for a longitudinal study to assess long-term cardiac risk and cardiac monitoring recommendations,” Lipshultz said in a press release.
Although ART during pregnancy is effective at reducing HIV transmission from mother to child, the study findings indicate the need for further investigation of the effect ART has on children’s heart health, according to the researchers.
“Our study indicates that there is potentially a long-term price to be paid for protecting the children of HIV-infected mothers from the virus,” Lipshultz said in the release.
Disclosure: Infectious Diseases in Children was unable to confirm financial disclosures at the time of publication.
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