Porcelain Aorta in a Young Person Living with HIV Who Presented with Angina.
Mircea BajdechiAlexandru Scafa-UdristeVlad PloscaruLucian CalmacTeodor BajeuAdriana GurgheanSorin RuginaPublished in: Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
People living with human immunodeficiency virus have an increased cardiovascular risk due to higher prevalence of traditional risk factors, such as smoking, dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, or obesity, and particular risk factors, such as inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and antiretroviral therapy. Thus, people living with human immunodeficiency virus can develop accelerated atherosclerosis. The incidence of coronary artery disease in these patients may be twice as high compared with that of HIV-negative individuals with similar characteristics. "Porcelain aorta" is a term used to describe extensive circumferential calcification of the thoracic aorta. The pathophysiology of porcelain aorta is not fully understood. We present a case of a young man who was a smoker and living with HIV since childhood, without other traditional cardiovascular risk factors, who presented to the emergency room with a positive stress test for myocardial ischemia. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed normal regional and global myocardial wall motion, ascending aorta ectasia, and moderate aortic regurgitation. Coronary angiography showed a critical calcified proximal left anterior descending artery stenosis and an important calcification of the thoracic aorta. Therefore, the most important challenge was the management of coronary syndrome in a young person living with HIV, with associated porcelain aorta and aortic regurgitation.
Keyphrases
- human immunodeficiency virus
- aortic valve
- antiretroviral therapy
- pulmonary artery
- risk factors
- hiv infected
- coronary artery
- coronary artery disease
- hepatitis c virus
- transcatheter aortic valve replacement
- aortic stenosis
- hiv positive
- pulmonary hypertension
- hiv aids
- aortic dissection
- hiv infected patients
- left ventricular
- cardiovascular risk factors
- cardiovascular disease
- pulmonary arterial hypertension
- chronic kidney disease
- type diabetes
- end stage renal disease
- metabolic syndrome
- insulin resistance
- spinal cord
- blood pressure
- computed tomography
- oxidative stress
- middle aged
- newly diagnosed
- hiv testing
- skeletal muscle
- preterm infants
- peritoneal dialysis
- patient reported outcomes
- weight loss
- coronary artery bypass grafting
- adipose tissue
- atrial fibrillation
- smoking cessation
- young adults
- childhood cancer