Cytomegalovirus viremia increases with progressive immune deficiency in patients infected with HTLV-III

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia was studied in 15 homosexual patients [two healthy, nine with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), five with the AIDS-related complex (ARC)], in one patient with transfusion-related AIDS, and in four individuals with cancer or connective tissue disorders. While CMV viremia was absent in the latter patients, in the healthy homosexuals, and in three stable ARC patients, it was present in clinically-deteriorating ARC patients and in all nine AIDS patients. Some CMV isolates caused limited proliferation of fibroblasts in the culture medium. The rapidity and ease of CMV isolation from leukocytes of patients at different stages of infection with human T-lymphocytotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) indicate that the CMV titer in leukocytes increases as immune deficiency worsens. In ARC patients CMV viremia may be predictive of clinical complications in the next 3 months. In AIDS patients CMV viremia at high titer was an unfavorable prognostic sign.