Washington (H24N). A study of 48 babies whose HIV-positive mothers took drugs to prevent perinatal transmission of the virus during pregnancy found that the regimen did no harm to the children’s hearts. Published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, the study sought to examine suspicions that the antiretroviral medicine called zidovudine, known as AZT, damaged the hearts of the children while they were formed in the womb.

The children were tracked from birth to 5 years of age, and the health of their hearts was measured with echocardiograms. None of the children were found to have heart problems.

"Data on the short-term safety of prenatal and neonatal exposure to zidovudine are reassuring," writes Lynne Mefenson, MD, from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in an editorial published along with the study.

Mefenson, did, however, cite some studies where antiretroviral drugs caused not only heart problems, but also neurological diseases and biochemical abnormalities. Regardless, said Mefenson, "Given the fatal nature of HIV infection, any long-term risk entailed by the in utero or neonatal exposure of children to antiretroviral drugs would have to be profound in order to outweigh the proven benefit of antiretroviral prophylaxis in reducing perinatal transmission of HIV."

NEWS AND TRENDS | CAREER CENTER | EDUCATION
Home | Resources
Site Index | Contact Us | FAQs | Subscribe | Advertise