Effective antiretroviral treatments for HIV have led to patients with HIV more often dying from causes not associated with HIV, such as cardiovascular disease.

HIV patients have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, due to the infection as well as its treatment.

The HIV virus causes atherosclerosis, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) leads to dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance.

In the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in HIV patients, the same treatment aims should apply as in patients without HIV; in the current practice guidelines, however, higher target values for lipids are applied for patients with HIV.

When treating cardiovascular risk factors, interactions between certain statins and antiretroviral agents should be taken into consideration.