[Foudroyant course of AIDS-induced cytomegalovirus retinitis]

Of 57 patients at Karlsruhe Municipal Eye Hospital with manifest acquired immune deficiency syndrome, ocular involvement was found in 34%. In the prefinal stage (on average 6 months ante finem), 25% of these patients developed typical, rapidly progressing cytomegalovirus retinitis with intraretinal hemorrhages and necrosis, which responded well to combined intravenous and intravitreal DHPG therapy. Almost all the patients died of global respiratory insufficiency caused by pneumocystis carinii or atypical mycobacteria.