EARLY RETINAL MICROVASCULAR ALTERATIONS IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS SEROPOSITIVE ASYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS

A total of 118 human immunodeficiency virus- (HIV) seropositive asympt omatic patients underwent ophthalmoscopic examination for the evaluati on of noninfectious retinal vasculopathy. The purpose of the work was to verify whether there is a correlation between such pathology and CD 4 lymphocyte count, believed to be an indicator of immunological statu s. Most of our patients (109; 92%) did not present a severe impairment of their immune-system, and the presence of retinal lesions in the en tire population sample was low. On the contrary, the patients with CD4 less than 200/mm(3) presented serious lesions induced by noninfectiou s HIV retinal vasculopathy with significant frequency. Our data sugges t that the ophthalmoscopic signs of noninfectious HIV-related retinal vasculopathy are correlated with the immunological status and that the y may have a negative prognostic significance in HIV-seropositive asym ptomatic patients.