Investigation of the infection route of HIV-associated cytomegalovirus retinitis

In HIV-associated CMVR patients, there may exist alternative, yet unidentified, infection pathways for intraocular CMV in addition to the conventional route. The substantial difference in CMV-DNA load between the eyes of most CMVR patients suggests that CMV may originate from different sources in each eye. The proportion of peripheral blood CD4⁺ T cells in HIV patients is negatively correlated with the quantity of CMV viruses in their eyes. The peripheral blood count of <100 cells/µL indicates a considerable increase in the risk of concurrent CMVR. Multi-ocular pathogen presentations are uncommon in HIV individuals with CMVR.