ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To characterize the clinical manifestations of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in northern Thailand. DESIGN: Prospective, observational, cross-sectional study. METHODS: We recorded characteristics of 52 consecutive patients newly diagnosed with CMV retinitis at a tertiary university-based medical center in northern Thailand. Indirect ophthalmoscopy by experienced ophthalmologists was supplemented with fundus photography to determine the proportion of eyes with various clinical features of CMV retinitis. RESULTS: Of the 52 patients with CMV retinitis, 55.8% were female. All were HIV-positive. The vast majority (90.4%) had started antiretroviral therapy. CMV retinitis was bilateral in 46.2% of patients. Bilateral visual acuity worse than 20/60 was observed in 23.1% of patients. Of 76 eyes with CMV retinitis, 61.8% had zone I disease and 21.6% had lesions involving the fovea. Lesions larger than 25% of the retinal area were observed in 57.5% of affected eyes. CMV retinitis lesions commonly had marked or severe border opacity (47.4% of eyes). Vitreous haze often was present (46.1% of eyes). Visual impairment was more common in eyes with larger retinitis lesions. Retinitis lesion size, used as a proxy for duration of disease, was associated with fulminant appearance (odds ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 1.51) and marked or severe border opacity (odds ratio, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.67). Based on lesion size, retinitis preceded antiretroviral treatment in each patient. CONCLUSIONS: Patients seeking treatment at a tertiary medical center in northern Thailand had advanced CMV retinitis, possibly because of delayed diagnosis. Earlier screening and treatment of CMV retinitis may limit progression of disease and may prevent visual impairment in this population.
Subject(s)
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/diagnosis , Cytomegalovirus Retinitis/diagnosis , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/drug therapy , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/epidemiology , Academic Medical Centers , Adolescent , Adult , Anti-Retroviral Agents/therapeutic use , Cross-Sectional Studies , Cytomegalovirus Retinitis/drug therapy , Cytomegalovirus Retinitis/epidemiology , Delayed Diagnosis , Female , HIV Seropositivity/diagnosis , HIV Seropositivity/drug therapy , HIV Seropositivity/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Thailand/epidemiology , Vision Disorders/diagnosis , Vision Disorders/drug therapy , Vision Disorders/epidemiology , Visual Acuity/physiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Automated mosaic software programs are used to stitch together overlapping retinal fundus photographs. The performance of these programs in eyes with retinal diseases has not been independently evaluated. This study compares the quality of the mosaic products of three autophotomontage software programs, using digital fundus photographs of eyes with cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis. METHODS: Photographs of 99 eyes with CMV retinitis of 94 patients with HIV were taken at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Automated mosaic images were created for each of the 99 eyes by three different commercially available programs: IMAGEnet (Topcon, Oakland, NJ), i2k Retina (DualAlign LLC, Clifton Park, NY), and AutoMontage (OIS, Sacramento, CA). Three masked graders ranked each set of mosaics for each eye. The graders also assessed the overall image quality and documented mosaic artifacts in each image. RESULTS: i2k Retina was ranked as the best program (70%-88%) more often than AutoMontage (10%-33%, P < 0.001) or IMAGEnet (0%-4%, P < 0.001) for creating automontages from digital fundus photographs of eyes with CMV retinitis. Acceptable quality mosaic images were reported most commonly for i2k Retina (93%-94%) and AutoMontage (91%-95%), followed by IMAGEnet (27%-56%, P < 0.001). IMAGEnet had a significantly higher percentage of mosaic errors than did either i2k Retina or AutoMontage (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In eyes with CMV retinitis, both the i2k Retina and AutoMontage software packages appear to create higher quality mosaics than does IMAGEnet. Automated retinal mosaic imaging may be valuable in diagnosing CMV retinitis and observing disease progression.
