[Eye infections in AIDS patients]

Inflammatory eye diseases in Aids patients are common. For CMV-retinitis an incidence of up to 45% is reported in the literature. Other retinal diseases such as acute retinal necrosis are less common but are difficult to treat and often follow a disastrous course. Ocular lues may present very different clinical pictures and is the great "imitator" in AIDS patients as well. In toxoplasmosis the typical chorioretinal scars next to the acute inflammatory infiltrates are commonly absent. Infections with candida occur in i.v. drug-addicts in particular. Bacterial corneal ulcers and herpetic keratitis are not more common in HIV-positive patients than in immunocompetent individuals, but the course of the disease is often more severe and prolonged. In patients with low CD4 counts Microsporus can cause painfull keratitis. Mollusca contagiosa are more common in AIDS patients and show the typical lesions, though these are greater in number (commonly more than 20) or in unusual localizations (mucous membrane).