Clinical Manifestations of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Induced Uveitis

Purpose: To describe the clinical manifestations of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-induced uveitis in Thailand. Design: Prospective cohort study of 6 patients with HIV-induced uveitis. Participants: Six patients (8 eyes) with HIV-induced uveitis who had an extremely high intraocular: plasma HIV-1 RNA ratio. Methods: The clinical manifestations and laboratory findings are reported of 6 consecutive patients with HIV-induced uveitis who had an extremely high intraocular-to-plasma HIV-1 RNA ratio and were diagnosed between July 2009 and May 2011. Main Outcome Measures: Clinical manifestations and laboratory findings. Results: Human immunodeficiency virus-induced uveitis was diagnosed in 4 men and 2 women with an average age of 41 years at presentation. None of the patients were receiving highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) or had clinical or laboratory evidence, or both, of opportunistic infections. The mean plasma load was 218 688 copies/ml (median, 137 500 copies/ml; range, 24 900-540 000 copies/ml), and the mean intraocular HIV load was 20 937 755 copies/ml (median, 7 499 000 copies/ml; range, 2 Conclusions: Human immunodeficiency virus-induced uveitis should be suspected in HAART-naive, HIV-positive patients or in those in whom this treatment fails and who have anterior uveitis without any retinal lesions and exhibit no response to topical corticosteroids. The concurrent determination of HIV load in the intraocular fluids and plasma may clarify the cause of HIV-associated uveitis. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. Ophthalmology 2012;119:1455-1459 (c) 2012 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.