Background:
There is limited data regarding the unique attributes of ischemic stroke among patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There is no published data regarding the occurrence and outcomes of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) among HIV infected persons.
Methods:
The largest all-payer Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS 2002-2010) data was used to identify and analyze all patients presenting with the primary diagnosis of SAH in the United States. Among this cohort, we identified the patients who were not HIV positive and those who were HIV positive. Patient demographics, medical co-morbidities, in-hospital complications, in-hospital procedures, and discharge disposition were compared between the two groups. The association between HIV infection and outcomes was evaluated in multivariate analysis after adjusting for potential confounders.
Results:
Of the 351,491 patients admitted with SAH, 1367 (0.39%) were infected with HIV. HIV infected patients were younger, mean age [±SD] of 45 ±14.2 years versus those who were not 58±19 years, (p<0.0001). The rate of blood transfusion [27,286 (7.8%) versus 245.6 (18%), p=0.0003], mechanical ventilation [51,199 (14.6%) versus 316.1(23.1%), p=0.008], and sepsis [14,644 (4.2%) versus 236.1 (17.3%), p<0.0001] was significantly higher among HIV infected patients. After adjusting for age, gender, hypertension, coagulopathy, atrial fibrillation, renal failure, and dyslipidemia, HIV negative patients had a significantly higher rate of discharge to home (odds ratio [OR] 1.9, 95% CI: 1.4-2.6, p<0.0001) and lower in-patient mortality (OR 0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.5, p<0.001). Further adjustment for blood transfusion and sepsis reduced the odds of discharge to home for the HIV negative patients, from 1.9 to 1.7 but did not affect in-hospital mortality.
Conclusion:
The in-hospital mortality in HIV infected patients with SAH is higher despite these patients being younger than non-HIV infected patients. We believe that this study provides a nationwide perspective which may have some important implications for early recognition and diagnosis of HIV-infection in SAH patients.
Human immunodeficiency virus in patients with sickle cell anaemia in Jos: The role of blood transfusion
