Influence of highly active antiretroviral therapy on the development of CMV disease in HIV positive patients at high risk for CMV disease

Abstract

In HIV positive patients at high risk of CMV retinitis, either with a positive CMV PCR assay in blood and/or with CD4+ cell counts below 50 cell x10(6)/l, HAART causes a dramatic decrease in the occurrence of CMV disease. This decrease is paralleled by an increase in CD4+ cell count, and a decrease in the amount of CMV DNA in the blood, which was below detection levels in all patients with CD4+ cell counts above 100 cells x10(6)/l.