Cytomegalovirus retinitis in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Light-microscopical, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical examination of a case.

The light-microscopical, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical findings in the first reported European case of ocular changes in the acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) are presented. The syndrome occurred in a 31-year-old homosexual man who died of Kaposi sarcoma in the skin and internal organs, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection of the larynx, the lungs and the small intestine, and mycobacterial infection of the lungs, the lymph nodes and the spleen. A right-sided necrotizing retinitis was shown to be caused by CMV and was clinically and histopathologically similar to previously described changes in CMV retinitis. CMV was cultured from the left eye where no ophthalmoscopic changes were observed. It is stressed that in these cases regular ophthalmological examination is advisable, even if no ocular complaints are present.