CYTOMEGALOVIRUS RETINITIS IN AIDS - A PRE-FINAL COMPLICATION

The appearance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS is regarded as an unfavourable sign, it was even considered in the first years of the HIV-epidemic to be a pre-final complication. The survival period after diagnosis of the retinitis is under virostatic therapy generally given as several months, only exceptionally as more than a year. We report here 3 cases of CMV retinitis in AIDS having an unusually long duration of 14-24 months. The clinical and histological results with the pecularities (resistance to therapy, optic atrophy, retinal atrophy with detachment, atypical peripheral fundus lesions) are presented. The importance of ophthalmological care of HIV-patients is indicated and a screening procedure is suggested.