Cytomegalovirus Retinitis and Low CD4+ T-Lymphocyte Counts

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Abstract
Cytomegalovirus retinitis is among the most common infections in patients with AIDS. With survival increasing in patients with AIDS as a result of successful primary prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, cytomegalovirus disease now develops in an estimated 45 percent of such patients in the United States.1 The risk of developing cytomegalovirus retinitis increases with progressive immunodeficiency. For patients with base-line CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts of 100 cells per cubic millimeter or 50 cells per cubic millimeter, Pertel et al.2 noted that the cumulative incidence at 27 months was 26.3 percent and 41.9 percent, respectively. In one series, the cross-sectional prevalence of cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts below 50 per cubic millimeter was reported to be 30 percent.3