Human immunodeficiency virus-related retinal microangiopathy and systemic cytomegalovirus disease association

To determine whether there is a significant association between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related retinal microangiopathy and systemic cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in HIV-infected patients.

Participants in this single-center, cross-sectional, retrospective study were 383 HIV-infected patients assessed for ocular manifestations before the beginning of antiretroviral therapy. The presence of HIV-related retinal microangiopathy, the presence of systemic CMV disease, laboratory data, and demographic information were determined by referring to medical records. The significance of any association between HIV-related retinal microangiopathy and systemic CMV disease was determined by use of the Chi-squared test and by multivariate analysis.

HIV-related retinal microangiopathy was present in 85 patients, and was significantly associated with systemic CMV disease both by use of the Chi-squared test (P = 0.006) and by multivariate analysis (P = 0.045, odds ratio 2.03, 95 % confidence interval 1.02-4.06 adjusted for CD4+ cell count and plasma HIV-RNA level).

These findings indicate that microangiopathy may be involved in the development of CMV disease in HIV-infected patients. Thus, detection of the presence of HIV-related retinal microangiopathy is important in the management of HIV-infected patients.