Freiberg MS, Duncan MS, Alcorn C, et al. - Findings demonstrated an association of HIV infection with elevated risk of World Health Organization (WHO)‐defined sudden cardiac death (SCD) among those with increased HIV viral load or low CD4 cell counts.

• From an observational, longitudinal cohort, veterans with and without HIV infection matched 1:2 on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and clinical site were included.

• Follow up (median, 9.0 years) in 144,336 participants (30% people living with HIV) revealed the occurrence of 3035 SCDs.

• Elevated SCD risk was evident in relation to HIV infection (hazard ratio [HR], 1.14; 95% CI, 1.04–1.25), adjusting for likely confounders.

• Relative to veterans without HIV, an increased SCD risk was noted in people living with HIV with CD4 counts <200 cells/mm ³ (HR, 1.57) or viral load >500 copies/mL (HR, 1.70).

• There was absence of increased SCD risk in people living with HIV who had CD4 cell counts >500 cells/mm ³ (HR, 1.03) or HIV viral load <500 copies/mL (HR, 0.97).