Patients were recruited from the in-patient out-patient clinics and wards of the San Francisco General Hospital and the Moffitt-Long Hospitals. A medical history was obtained and a physical examination conducted which included an electrocardiogram, chest x-rays and Doppler echocardiogram. All studies were repeated every four months for four years in HIV-positive groups. If clinical evidence of cardiac disease appeared, all studies including chest x-ray were repeated at that time. If there was normal systolic function in patients with definite left ventricular failure, a radionuclide angiogram was obtained to further evaluate left ventricular diastolic function.