Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in African Patients with Critical Lower Limb Ischemia Infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Background: The extent to which Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is associated with increases in carotid Intima-Media Thickness (IMT) independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors is unclear. Hence, we evaluated whether independent of conventional risk factors, an increased carotid IMT occurs in African HIV infected patients with chronic Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI). Methods: Carotid IMT was measured in 217 sequentially recruited patients with CLI, 25 of whom were HIV positive and in 430 randomly selected controls from a community sample. Results: As compared to HIV negative patients with CLI, HIV positive patients were younger (49 ± 10 vs. 64 ± 11 years, p