Ocular complications of human immunodeficiency virus infection in eastern china.

PURPOSE: To investigate ocular complications in patients with HIV/AIDS in eastern China during the time of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

DESIGN

Prospective study.

METHODS

This study was carried out from August 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010. Recruited HIV/AIDS patients underwent a series of surveys and ophthalmologic and laboratory examinations (including CD4 level) at enrollment.

RESULTS

In this study, all 787 HIV/AIDS patients (1574 eyes) had a history of HAART. Of these patients, 28.72% (95% CI = 0.26-0.32) had a history of systemic disease and 26.30% (95% CI = 0.23-0.29) had ocular complications. Of these ocular complications, cytomegalovirus retinitis (CMVR) had the highest prevalence (10.6%, 83/787) and ocular microangiopathy had the second-highest prevalence (9.4%, 74/787). Among the patients with CMVR, 16.9% (14/83) suffered from immune recovery uveitis (IRU). Furthermore, 3.4% (27/787) of the recruited AIDS patients had neuro-ophthalmologic disorders. The mean logMAR visual acuity of the group with ocular complications was 0.47 ± 0.64, which was significantly different from the asymptomatic group (0.17 ± 0.39, P < .001). The median CD4 T-cell count of the group with ocular complications is 43 cells/μL, which was significantly different from the asymptomatic group (116.5 cells/μL, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows a high rate of treatable ocular complications among patients with HIV/AIDS in eastern China. HIV/AIDS treatment programs in China must be prepared to identify ocular complications and refer patients to the correct treatment facilities.