Cardiovascular risk and endothelial function in people living with HIV/AIDS: design of the multi-site, longitudinal EndoAfrica study in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The EndoAfrica study provides a unique opportunity to recruit a cohort of HIV-infected patients and HIV-negative controls who will be comprehensively and longitudinally assessed for cardiovascular risk and disease profile with vascular endothelial function as a potentially important intermediate cardiovascular phenotype. To our knowledge, it is the first time that such a systematic study has been established in the context of SSA and South Africa.