The use of antiretroviral drugs was found to have a significant benefit in overall survival without any increase in heart disease risks, say researchers of a large study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. These new data refute other study results suggesting that HIV treatment raises the risk of cardiovascular complications.

Samuel Bozzette, MD, PhD, of the Veterans Medical Research Foundation at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Health Care System, and his colleagues examined the medical records of 41,213 HIV-positive patients in the Veterans Administration (VA) system between 1993 and 2003. Nearly all were male and more than half were African American. Eighty-three percent were between the ages of 35 and 55.

Bozzette’s team found that the introduction of combination antiretroviral treatment reduced the rate of death by 75 percent. The rate of inpatient hospital stays for heart-related problems remained stable through the same period, meaning that there were no increases in heart disease due to the introduction of antiretroviral therapy.

The size of this study is significant, and the results are encouraging, as some antiretroviral drugs can increase cholesterol and other risk factors for heart disease. In the study, the only identified risk factors for a heart-related illness were older age and a preexisting heart problem before starting antiretrovirals.