In people living with HIV, OSA may be a common issue that is largely undiagnosed, further complicating the patient’s clinical course, according to a paper in Clinical Infectious Diseases, reports Contagion Live.
“OSA is one of the few reversible causes of fatigue,” author Robert L. Owens, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, told Contagion®. “Diagnosis and treatment of OSA in patients with HIV are not common, yet doing so could improve these patients’ quality of life.”
According to Dr Owens, the exact prevalence of OSA in the HIV population is unknown. “But in some cohorts, as many as 70% of men with HIV have OSA,” he explained. “Untreated OSA might contribute to fatigue, increased cardiovascular risk, and ongoing inflammation that are likely to be important symptoms predictive of the disorder, even in those with well-controlled HIV.”
