Compared to controls, cases were more likely to have (1) traditional stroke risk factors such as hypertension (42 vs. 2%, p = 0.001); (2) more poorly controlled HIV, including lower CD4 counts [259 (165–520) cells/μl vs. 452 (380–553) cells/μl, p = 0.030)] and higher viral loads [0 (0–4,217) copies/ml vs. 0 (0–1,578) copies/ml, p = 0.007]; (3) markers of atherosclerotic disease, including increased pulse wave velocity (PWV) [10.89 (9.99–12.15) m/s vs. 9.01 (7.989.67) m/s, p < 0.001] and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) [0.79 (0.70–0.99) mm vs. 0.63 (0.57–0.67) mm, p < 0.001]. The gene discussed is CD4; the disease is hypertensive disorder.