Outcome of cytomegalovirus retinitis in immunocompromised patients without Human Immunodeficiency Virus treated with intravitreal ganciclovir injection.

PURPOSE: To study the outcomes of treatment with intravitreal ganciclovir injection for cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in patients without Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection.

METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with CMV retinitis without HIV were noted. Patients received intravitreal ganciclovir injection (2 mg/0.1 ml) alone until quiescence. The outcome measures were time taken for the lesions to heal, number of injections, change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), recurrence of retinitis, occurrence of immune recovery uveitis (IRU) or injection-related complications and retinal detachment (RD).

RESULTS: 18 eyes of ten patients (six males) with mean age of 33.7 years from June 2004 to March 2013 were included. Thirteen eyes with active lesions (mean BCVA of 0.51 ± 0.41) received 5.54 ± 3.36 intravitreal ganciclovir injections with complete healing within 1.81 ± 1.25 months. The final BCVA was 0.43 ± 0.52. IRU was observed in six eyes (33.33%) and RD developed in one eye. One eye had recurrence 1 month after stopping ganciclovir injections. The rest of the patients had recurrence-free follow-up at 9.46 ± 12.42 months.

CONCLUSIONS: Non-HIV patients with CMV retinitis can be successfully treated with intravitreal ganciclovir injection alone, avoiding the systemic side effects of systemic anti-CMV therapy.