Korean J Infect Dis.  1998 Aug;30(4):358-364.

Cytomegalovirus Diseases in AIDS Patients

• Kim HB
• Park SW
• Kim NJ
• Choi HJ
• Shin DH
• Oh MD
• Kim WH
• Chung HC
• Choe KW

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the important opportunistic infections in immuno-compromised patients. In Korea, seroprevalence of IgG against CMV is over 95%. Therefore, CMV diseases are expected to be a prevalent opportunistic infection in AIDS patients in Korea.
METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of 128 patients with HIV infection who visited the Seoul Na-tional University Hospital during the period from Nov. 1987 to Sep. 1996. All the patients were examined by one ophthalmologist and the diagnosis of CMV retinitis were made by funduscopic findings. Other CMV dise-ases were diagnosed when histopathologic examinations showed the characteristic cytomegalic cells.
RESULTS
Median duration of follow-up was 8 (0 ~ 59) months. Eleven CMV diseases were found in 7 patients (5.4%) : 6 patients had retinitis, 2 esophagitis, 1 colitis, 1 pneumonitis, and one patient developed disse-minated infection. Fifteen percent (6/33) of the patients whose CD4 + lymphocyte counts were less than 200/ mm 3 at baseline developed CMV diseases. Out of the 9 cases treated with ganciclovir, 7 improved or were stabi-lized. No patient received maintenance treatment and 3 had relapsed.
CONCLUSION
CMV diseases are common opportuni-stic infections in AIDS patients in Korea.

Keyword

Cytomegalovirus; Human immunodeficiency virus; AIDS; Retinitis; Opportunistic infection

MeSH Terms

Colitis
Cytomegalovirus*
Diagnosis
Esophagitis
Follow-Up Studies
Ganciclovir
HIV
HIV Infections
Humans
Immunoglobulin G
Korea
Lymphocyte Count
Medical Records
Opportunistic Infections
Pneumonia
Retinitis
Seoul
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Ganciclovir
Immunoglobulin G