HIV Infection and the Risk of World Health Organization–Defined Sudden Cardiac Death

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV have higher sudden cardiac death (SCD) rates compared with the general population. Whether HIV infection is an independent SCD risk factor is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study evaluated participants from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, an observational, longitudinal cohort of veterans with and without HIV infection matched 1:2 on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and clinical site. Baseline for this study was a participant's first clinical visit on or after April 1, 2003. Participants were followed through December 31, 2014. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we assessed whether HIV infection, CD4 cell counts, and/or HIV viral load were associated with World Health Organization (WHO)–defined SCD risk. Among 144 336 participants (30% people living with HIV), the mean (SD) baseline age was 50.0 years (10.6 years), 97% were men, and 47% were of Black race. During follow‐up (median, 9.0 years), 3035 SCDs occurred. HIV infection was associated with increased SCD risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.14; 95% CI, 1.04–1.25), adjusting for possible confounders. In analyses with time‐varying CD4 and HIV viral load, people living with HIV with CD4 counts <200 cells/mm(3) (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.28–1.92) or viral load >500 copies/mL (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.46–1.98) had increased SCD risk versus veterans without HIV. In contrast, people living with HIV who had CD4 cell counts >500 cells/mm(3) (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.90–1.18) or HIV viral load <500 copies/mL (HR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.87–1.09) were not at increased SCD risk. CONCLUSIONS: HIV infection is associated with increased risk of WHO‐defined SCD among those with elevated HIV viral load or low CD4 cell counts.