Prevalence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in HIV-infected children from sub-saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Kevin Bassey, Clement Nku, Martin Meremikwu, Ifunanya Ebiekpi · 2026
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Description
Kevin Bassey and three colleagues pool the prevalence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction, a weakening of the heart's main pumping chamber, in children living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Their 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis follows PRISMA guidance across five databases. Twenty studies covering 3,994 children reported the condition by echocardiography.
The pooled prevalence was 6.0 percent, but studies disagreed wildly, with heterogeneity at ninety-five percent in the reported statistic. Era explained much of the spread: studies from before or early in the antiretroviral era found 27.8 percent, against 3.6 percent in the treatment era in the subgroup comparison. Clinics with at least eighty percent treatment coverage reported far less dysfunction than those below that mark. Measurement method also shifted estimates. The authors conclude the complication persists in a real minority and urge standardized definitions in future longitudinal work.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Kevin Bassey, Clement Nku, Martin Meremikwu, Ifunanya Ebiekpi |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 42021 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |