A STUDY OF OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS IN HIV/AIDS PATIENTS ATTENDING ART CENTRE AT TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF SOUTH GUJARAT

Introduction:AIDS is a multisystem disease, which can affect any part of the eye& can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Around 40-70% of patients with HIV infection develops one of the ocular manifestations during lifetime. Introduction of HAART had significantly reduced occurrence of opportunistic infections and neoplasia in these patients. Purpose:This study was conducted to study various ocular manifestations in HIV patients and to find out their prevalence and correlation with CD4 T Cell count. Material & Methods:We conducted a Cross-Sectional Study on 100 confirmed HIV patients taking HAART. We conducted detailed ocular examination of these patients including vision assessment, IOP measurement, slit lamp examination and fundus examination. CD4 T Cell count and Duration of the Disease was also noted. Results:We found 52% prevalence of HIV related ocular manifestations. Anterior Segment manifestations were more common than Posterior Segment. Dry Eye was the most common ocular finding accounting for 44.23% of the patients with ocular manifestations. Other Anterior Segment diseases included Cataract, Conjunctival Microvasculopathy, Blepharitis, Stye, Pterygium, Allergic Conjunctivitis, Anterior Uveitis and Viral Keratitis. Only 7 patients had Posterior Segment Diseases. 1 patient each of CMV Retinitis and PORN was seen, both having CD4 T Cell count below 100 cells/µl. Occurrence of these ocular manifestations were not related to age & gender of the patient or to the duration of the disease. Conclusions:All patients with HIV should undergo Ophthalmic examination, irrespective of the CD4 T Cell count, Duration of Disease or presence of symptoms. Screening help in detecting these ocular diseases at early stage and thereby with early initiation of appropriate treatment help in reducing the visual morbidity.