Maternal AZT and Fetal Cardiac Structure and Function
Researchers evaluated the structure and function of hearts of infants born to HIV-infected mothers on antiretroviral medications during pregnancy and compared with those infants born to non-HIV infected mothers. Those infants whose mothers were on cART during pregnancy had larger hearts and pericardial effusion together with thicker myocardial septal walls and smaller left ventricular cavities. They also had signs of systolic and diastolic dysfunction. This can result in some of the cardiovascular changes that have been described in childhood for children that were HIV-exposed during gestation.
Citation: Garcia-Otero L, Lopez M, Gomez O, Gonce A, Bennasar M, Martinez JM, Valenzuela-Alcaraz B, Rodriguez-Lopez M, Sitges M, Lonca M, Bijnens B, Crispi F, Gratacos E. Zidovudine treatment in HIV-infected pregnant women is associated with fetal cardiac remodeling. AIDS. 2016 Jun 1;30(9):1393-401. Epub ahead of print.
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