The value and implementation of routine ophthalmic examination in the era of HAART

From Bedside to Diagnosis: The Role of Ocular Fundus in Systemic Infections

In this comprehensive review, we delve into the significance of the ocular fundus examination in diagnosing and managing systemic infections at the bedside. While the utilization of advanced ophthalmological diagnostic technologies can present challenges in bedside care, especially for hospitalized patients confined to their beds or during infection outbreaks, the ocular fundus examination often emerges as an essential, and sometimes the only practical, diagnostic tool. Recent discussions have highlighted that the role of an ocular fundus examination might not always be advocated as a routine diagnostic procedure. With this context, we introduce a decision tree tailored for assessing the ocular fundus in inpatients with systemic infections. We also present an overview of systemic infections that impact the eye and elucidate key signs detectable through a bedside ocular fundus examination. Targeted primarily at non-ophthalmology clinicians, this review seeks to offer a comprehensive insight into a multifaceted approach and the enhancement of patient clinical outcomes.

Visual functions in patients with cytomegalovirus uveitis and HIV infection

BACKGROUND: Cytomegalovirus damage to the eye is the leading cause of loss of visual functions associated with HIV. Effective treatment of HIV-infected patients has changed the understanding of the clinical picture of cytomegalovirus uveitis (CMV-uveitis). AIM: The aim of the work is to determine the prevalence, the structure of clinical forms and to evaluate visual functions in HIV-infected patients with CMV-uveitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 66 HIV-infected patients with CMV-uveitis (97 eyes), of which there were 27 men (40.9%), 39 women (59.1%). The average age was 39.6 3.91 years. All patients had stage 4B of HIV infection according to V.V. Pokrovskys classification (2006). During the work, visometry, perimetry, biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy were used. RESULTS: The main form of the disease is chorioretinitis, diffuse and generalized forms of the disease are diagnosed in 68.0% of cases. In predicting visual acuity, the leading regression criterion was the clinical form of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: Diffuse and generalized forms of the disease prevailed in clinical practice. Localization of the chorioretinal process of a predominantly diffuse nature predetermined visual acuity, which in more than a third of cases met the criteria for blindness according to the WHO classification (1977).