EARLY PRESENTATION OF DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY AS A PART OF SEROCONVERSION ILLNESS IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION

It has been debated whether dilated cardiomyopathy seen in patients wi th acquired immune deficiency syndrome is caused by the virus itself o r by the combination of other factors such as presence of opportunisti c pathogens and/or severe immunosuppression. This paper describes the first reported case of a patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HI V) infection presenting with dilated cardiomyopathy during his acute s eroconversion illness. Presence of cardiac involvement at a very early stage of HIV infection with no evidence of opportunistic infections, or immunosuppression with high CD4 count indicates that HIV may itself be a cardiac pathogen. This case also illustrates the importance of t esting for HIV infection as part of the assessment of any patient pres enting with myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy.