About the Authors

Fernando H. Wolff

fhwolff@terra.com.br

Affiliations National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS)–CNPq, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Post-graduate Program in Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Sandra C. Fuchs

Affiliations National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS)–CNPq, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Nêmora N. T. Barcellos

Affiliations National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS)–CNPq, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Therapeutic Attention Service, Sanatório Partenon Hospital, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Paulo Ricardo de Alencastro

Affiliations Post-graduate Program in Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Therapeutic Attention Service, Sanatório Partenon Hospital, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Maria Letícia R. Ikeda

Affiliations Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Therapeutic Attention Service, Sanatório Partenon Hospital, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Ajácio B. M. Brandão

Affiliations National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS)–CNPq, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, School of Medicine, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Maicon Falavigna

Affiliation Centre for AIDS Studies of Rio Grande do Sul (Centro de Estudos em AIDS do Rio Grande do Sul - CEARGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Flávio D. Fuchs

Affiliations National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS)–CNPq, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Division of Cardiology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: FHW SCF NTB ABdMB FDF. Performed the experiments: FHW NTB PRA MLRI MF. Analyzed the data: FHW SCF NTB PRA MLRI ABdMB FDF. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: FHW PRA MLRI MF. Wrote the paper: FHW SCF NTB ABdMB FDF.