A prospective study of the ophthalmologic findings in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Africa.

A prospective study of ophthalmologic findings in 20 African patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Group 1) and nine patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome related complex (Group 2) disclosed that 11 patients in Group 1 and two patients in Group 2 had ocular involvement. Cotton-wool spots, Roth spots, and hemorrhages were frequent features in Group 1. In this series, unlike most others, perivasculitis occurred in five patients whereas cytomegalovirus retinitis and ocular involvement of Kaposi's sarcoma were not observed. These African patients also differed from those previously described in the high proportion of women (11 of 29) and the lack of the usual risk factors (homosexuality, intravenous drug abuse, and hemophilia).