SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 17 -- HIV-positive African-Americans have a six-fold higher risk for end-stage renal disease than whites with HIV, investigators here reported.
The risk was comparable to that of HIV-negative blacks with diabetes, reported Andy I. Choi, M.D., of the University of California at San Francisco, in the November issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
"Our study demonstrated a striking and unexpected degree of ESRD among HIV-infected persons of black race," said Dr. Choi. "On the other hand, among white patients with HIV, rates of ESRD were far lower than among blacks and HIV did not confer an increased risk of ESRD. We can think of few other risk factors for ESRD that are modified to this extent by race."
Dr. Choi and colleagues looked at Veterans Administration data on a national sample of 2,015,891 veterans who had kidney function tests in 2000 or 2001 and who were followed for progression of end-stage disease over a median of 3.7 years.
