Cardiac surgery in three patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

Human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide.1 Recently, the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) improved the survival rate of HIV-infected patients.² However, the number of HIV-infected patients to be referred for cardiac surgery will increase because cardiovascular risk is increased with the use of HAART. Herein, we report three HIV-infected patients who underwent open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass; we followed their progress by monitoring their CD4⁺ T-lymphocyte counts. Based on our experience, it seems that cardiopulmonary bypass does not accelerate progression of HIV disease.