Asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease in HIV patients in Ghana: A case-control study

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is common in HIV patients and can be diagnosed noninvasively using the ankle-brachial index (ABI). The burden of PAD has not been investigated in Ghanaian HIV patients. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors associated with PAD in HIV patients at a periurban hospital in Ghana. Methods: In a case-control design, ABI was measured in 158 cART-treated HIV patients, 150 cART-naive HIV patients and 156 non-HIV controls with no clinical symptoms of CVDs. PAD was defined as ABI < 0.9. A structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and clinical data. Fasting venous blood samples were collected to measure plasma levels of glucose, lipid profile, and CD4+ lymphocytes.Results: The prevalence of PAD was 13.9% among cART-treated HIV patients, 21.3% among cART-naive HIV patients, and 15.4% among non-HIV controls. Patients with PAD had increased odds of having low CD4+ cell counts [OR (95% CI) = 3.68 (1.41-12.85)]. In cART-treated HIV patients, those on TDF-based [5.76 (1.1- 30.01), p = 0.038] and EFV-based [9.28 (1.51-57.12), p = 0.016] regimens had increased odds of having PAD.Conclusion: In our study population, there was no difference in the prevalence of PAD between cARTtreated HIV patients compared to cART-naive HIV patients or non-HIV controls. Having a low CD4 cell count and being on TDF-or EFV-based regimens were associated with an increased likelihood of having PAD. (c) 2023 Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.