Coronary artery lesions and human immunodeficiency virus infection.

The postmortem anatomopathological examination of eight heart-and-lung specimens obtained from eight HIV-seropositive patients was performed. Three patients were CDC stage II and five patients were CDC stage IV. The mean age was 27 (range: 23-32). Distal and proximal vascular lesions of the coronary arteries were observed. These impairments were marked by major excentric atherosclerosis (with 80-90% obstruction of the arterial lumen) or by fibrosis two-fold or six-fold the thickness of the tunica media. Sclero-hyalinosis of the smaller arteries and myocardial interstitial fibrosis lesions was also revealed. In view of the severity of the described lesions, the absence of any associated cardiovascular risk factors and the context of immunodepression, the role of a virus in the genesis of these lesions is suggested, in particular a virus of the herpes group.