Subclinical cardiovascular remodelling in HIV-infection: a multimodal descriptive study of two serodiscordant, monozygotic twins
Abstract
Cardiovascular abnormalities have been demonstrated in people living with HIV at the time of HIV diagnosis, but pathology may be challenging to diagnose in the individual. To describe subtle cardiovascular remodelling and dysfunction in two identical twins, one without HIV and the other with a new diagnosis of HIV (serodiscordant). We hypothesise that a difference in cardiovascular parameters would not be demonstrable between the twins, unless non-genetic (environmental) factors were influencing the cardiovascular system. Significant cardiovascular differences likely represent occult pathology secondary to the effects of early HIV-infection, before the initiation of antiretroviral therapy. A 25-year-old female, incidentally diagnosed with HIV (CD4 count 513 cells/ml; estimated time of HIV infection 7-months), underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac biomarker evaluation, and echocardiographic strain assessment. Her healthy, HIV-uninfected identical twin, living together since birth, underwent an identical assessment for comparison. Blinded measurements were performed.
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2024 SA Heart Journal

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.Â
A copy of the authors’ publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.Â
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: “This is an electronic version of an article published in SAHJ, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX–XXX”, DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAHJ) may be found.Â
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University’s’ Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
Copyright Holder: SA Heart Journal
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0