Chronic venous insufficiency in HIV-positive persons with and without a history of injection drug use.

Objective: To examine chronic venous insufficiency in human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons with and without a history of injection drug use and to examine the extent to which neuropathy further increased the risk of chronic venous insufficiency.

Design: Cross-sectional stratified design with quota sampling.

Setting: Infectious diseases clinic in a large, urban midwestern city.

Participants: Human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons, 27 with no history of injection drug use and 46 with a history of injection drug use, who met the inclusion criteria, including being 30 to 65 years of age, not pregnant, and willing to respond to a questionnaire and have their lower legs examined, were enrolled until the quota for each stratum (no injection drug use and injection drug use) was filled.

Main Outcome Measures: Chronic venous insufficiency clinical classification, injection drug use history, and presence of peripheral neuropathy.

Main Results: Sixty-one percent of injection drug users (28/46) presented with severe chronic venous insufficiency compared with 11% (3/27) of noninjection drug users (P< .001). The presence of lower extremity neuropathy was not significantly related to chronic venous insufficiency classification.

Conclusions: This is the first study to report the high risk of chronic venous insufficiency in human immunodeficiency virus-infected persons who inject drugs. Chronic venous insufficiency should be assessed in human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons when there is a history of injection drug use, and measures to protect the legs should be implemented.