Ophthalmic Manifestations of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

Abstract

Before the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the rate of ophthalmic manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was very high. The lifetime risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, the most notorious of these complications, was once estimated at 30% in individuals with AIDS.¹ In addition, before the widespread use of HAART in 1996, the 10-year cumulative incidence of CMV retinitis among HIV-positive patients at the San Francisco General Hospital, a large, urban, tertiary care medical center with a comprehensive HIV treatment center, was found to be 77.7%.²