HIV- AND TUBERCULOSIS-ASSOCIATED PERICARDITIS

Introduction. HIV infection, despite the measures taken, continues to spread throughout the world. Unfavorable course of diseases is often determined by some concomitant pathologies. Among HIV-infected patients, tuberculosis is the most common disease forming the comorbid condition named “TB/HIV” that reaches more than a half of all the cases of newly diagnosed tuberculosis in some regions of Russia. In recent years, due to the increase in the HIV- infected patients’ life expectancy based on antiretroviral therapy, cardiovascular diseases, such as primarily infectious pericarditis, are gradually beginning to hold a significant place. Aim: To select and analyze publications dealing with HIV- and tuberculosis-associated infectious pericarditis. Materials and Methods. A systematic search was conducted for publications that examined possible associations between pericardial damage, HIV infection and tuberculosis. A search of publications was carried out in the electronic databases PubMed, www.pubmed.gov; MEDLINE, www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov; and Russian scientific database eLibrary, https://www.elibrary.ru. Preference was given to meta-analyses or systematic reviews, and studies with duplicate materials were excluded from the analysis. Results and Discussion. Publications on the epidemiology of infectious pericarditis associated with HIV infection and tuberculosis in the world and Russia are presented by authors from different countries; both the human immunodeficiency virus and mycobacterium tuberculosis are important for the development of pericarditis. Tuberculous pericarditis, being a rare manifestation of tuberculosis, usually reflects the severity of the disease and an unfavorable prognosis. In cases of unexplained pericardial effusion, it is advisable to include testing for HIV infection in the differential diagnosis plan. Conclusions. Diagnosis of pericarditis requires a multidisciplinary approach; late diagnosis has an unfavorable prognosis.