People with HIV do not experience greater risk for cerebral, aortic, or other arterial aneurysms and dissections, according to findings published in AIDS. Malte Tetens, MD, and colleagues examined the risk for aneurysms among individuals with HIV in a nationwide, population-based matched cohort study. The study included all patients with HIV (N=6,935) treated at a single center between January 1995 and February 2018, as well as 55,480 controls. Risk for subarachnoid hemorrhage (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.7) was increased in people with HIV, but not risk for related surgery. People with HIV also experienced no increased risk for cerebral or aortic aneurysm, or surgery for either condition. Risk for other arterial aneurysms and dissections was greater in people with HIV (IRR, 2.0), but only in those who reported IV substance use as their route of HIV transmission (IRR, 18.4). Dr. Tetens and colleagues also noted that subarachnoid hemorrhages were rare in individuals with HIV.
