People with HIV under 50 years of age may be at increased risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots, according to research published in the May 2002 edition of AIDS Patient Care and STDs.
Investigators at the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, found that HIV-positive people under 50 were at a statistically greater risk of developing venous thrombosis. The condition happens when a blood clot which has developed in the legs, breaks free and travels to the lungs, causing a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism (blood clot).
In a retrospective study, the medical records of every patient treated for HIV or venous thromboembolism at the Long Island College Hospital between July 1998 and June 1999 were examined. The study included 362 patients who were HIV-positive and 244 who had venous thromboembolism.
Overall, people with HIV were no more likely to develop a venous thrombosis: the condition occurred in 2.8% of those with HIV and 1.8% of people who were HIV-negative, a difference considered statistically unimportant by the investigators.
However, people with HIV under 50 were seen to be at greatly increased risk of developing a venous thromboembolism, with the condition observed in 22% of HIV-positive patients under 50 treated at the hospital.
Deep vein blood clots are normally seen in older people, and the researchers have expressed surprise at their findings. However they noted that since the use of HAART, new problems have emerged in the treatment of people with HIV, unrelated to the opportunistic infections which characterised HIV medicine in the pre-treatment era.
Further study of the issue is recommended by the Brooklyn investigators.