Causes and treatments of CMV retinitis

Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 1:09 pm Post in Eye Diseases

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis is an eye disease that closely relates to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). CMV retinitis always invades the retina and affects the light-sensitive receptors, leading to acuity reduction and peripheral vision decrease. Without proper treatment, a detached retina and blindness can be caused within two to six months.

Statistics show that 80% of adults can protect themselves from the danger of CMV, which is a common virus. It is widely known that people with AIDS have ineffective immune system, so that they can not fight against CMV. In the past, CMV retinitis bothered a quarter of AIDS patients, while now the number has been lowered to 5%, due to the use of potent combination of drugs.

CMV can also be found on people with weakened or suppressed immune system at a lower rate. For example, these individuals who are undergoing chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant also have fewer antibodies to CMV.

Untreated CMV retinitis can lead to vision loss by damaging the macula. Currently, there are a huge number of researchers that are searching out the progression of CMV retinitis, involving mechanisms of cell death. Present results show that CMV starts at the outer layer of the retina, and then invades deeper layers.

For CMV retinitis treatment, AIDS patients should visit a retina specialist every two to four weeks for primary disease control. During the following days, regular doctor’s visit every three months is enough.

The most thorough treatment is the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which cures CMV retinitis from its root by suppressing the HIV. HAART can improve your immune system within a short period, which in turn controls the development of CMV retinitis. Certain patients may abnormally react to HAART and develop immune recovery uveitis, which is a severe inflammation.

There are also drugs to deal with CMV retinitis directly, including ganciclovir, foscarnet and cidofovir. Ganciclovir is available in forms of pill, intravenous infusion and intravitreal implant named Vitrasert. With unavoidable side effects, all these drugs are capable of slowing down CMV progression.