Abstract:

The study was a comparison between the haematological profile parameters of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients who developed a cardiac event and those who did not. The aim was to assess the possibility of using haematological parameters as predictors of the risk of developing a cardiovascular event in a Botswana HIV positive cohort. Elevated white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil (NEUT), CD8 T cell count (CD8) and decreased lymphocyte (LYMPH), CD4 T cell count (CD4) and CD4/CD8 ratio have been associated with cardiovascular risk. Whether this association is present in an HIV positive cohort in Botswana is uncertain. Differences in the haematological parameters of HIV positive patients who developed a cardiac event and of those who did not were compared at 3 different time points using the Mann Whitney U Test. A total of 9 cases and 34 controls were studied. At baseline, cases had higher WBC counts with a mean rank of 25.86 compared to controls (16.04) with p value of 0.012. NEUT mean rank of 24.58 for cases was higher than 13.23 for controls (p=0.002). At 6 months into study and at occurrence of event, the differences were not statistically significant. Study shows that at baseline, WBC and NEUT are higher for patients likely to develop a cardiac event hence can be a potential risk predictor.

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