Natural History and Outcome of New AIDS-Related Cytomegalovirus Retinitis Diagnosed in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

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Abstract
The incidence, natural history, and outcome of therapy for AIDS-related cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis were well-defined in the era before the widespread availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), that is, up to 1996 [1, 2]. By 1997 the incidence of new CMV disease was reported to have become ∼80% lower than that in the pre-HAART era [3–5]. However, little is known from cohort or population-based studies about the natural history and outcome of CMV retinitis that is newly diagnosed and treated in patients who have already received or will promptly initiate HAART. Therefore, we reviewed cases of AIDS-related CMV retinitis that occurred within the San Francisco Public Health Department Community Health Network, which has provided primary medical care for a relatively constant number of individual patients with HIV disease (3400–600) from 1994 through 1998.