Clinically manifest ocular lesions among hiv infected patients at kamenge university hospital, burundi

Abstract

Background Over 33 million people live with HIV/AIDS worldwide and around 22 million are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, where access to medical treatment and care is poor. The disease is associated with a wide variety of ocular complications and blindness. The number of HIV infected individuals is increasing due to better access to treatment therefore eye diseases and complications will increase too. Objective This study determined the patterns of ocular lesions in patients with HIV and their correlation with CD4 cells count. Methods This was a cross- sectional study carried out among the HIV infected patients aged 18 years and older attending the HIV clinic at Kamenge University Hospital. Patients were recruited during counseling sessions. Demographic data was recorded and ophthalmic examination done using slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscope. The information was collected using the questionnaire and was later analyzed using STATA and presented using proportions. Univariate logistic regression was used to test for the association. Results A total of 392 study participants were interviewed. 349 (89.03%) were on HAART and 43 (10.97%) were not. Ocular manifestations were found in 30.61%. The commonest ocular manifestations found were: dry eye syndrome 25.77%, microvasculopathy, CMVR and papilledema 0.51% each. Others are Allergic conjunctivitis 3.32%, cataract 1.79% and Glaucoma suspect 0.77%. There was a positive association with ocular manifestations among patients with CD4 count < 350. Conclusion In this study the prevalence of ocular manifestations was high compared to the previous study which could be explained by the effect of HAART as it has showed to prolong the life expectancy and hence increased the risk of getting ocular manifestations. There was a positive association with ocular manifestations and lower CD4 count.