Retinopathy before the diagnosis of AIDS

We reviewed the records of ocular examinations of patients referred or examined for inflammatory retinal disease over a two-year period and found 18 cases in which retinopathy was documented before the diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Seventeen patients were either homosexual men or intravenous drug abusers. Although 13 patients had AIDS-related complex, no patients met the Centers for Disease Control criteria for AIDS before their ophthalmologic examination. In all 18 cases, the diagnosis of severe immunodeficiency suggestive of infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was made by the ophthalmologist. These ophthalmologic findings included five patients with asymptomatic retinal cotton-wool patches, two patients with endogenous Staphylococcus epidermidis bacterial endophthalmitis, and 11 cases of isolated cytomegalovirus retinitis. All patients were ambulatory outpatients at the time of ophthalmologic examination. Noninfectious retinopathy and intraocular opportunistic infections suggest the diagnosis of HIV infection and AIDS, and the ophthalmologist may play an important role in early diagnosis of this disease.