Cytomegalovirus Infection in Patients with AIDS

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus infection isoneof a long list of latent human infections that, although normally controlled by the cellular immune response, is activated after human immunodeficiency virus infection takes its toll on the T4 lymphocytes. Expression of this infection isunique, its most prominent manifestations being a progressive retinitis, a colitis, an encephalitis, and perhaps a pneumonia. The diagnosis and treatment of these conditions remain difficult and controversial clinical problems. For many years Dr. W. Lawrence Drew has studied infections caused by cytomegalovirus. We have asked Dr. Drew to give his impressions, based on the most current data available, of several aspects of this infection: When is cytomegalovirus a pathogen in the patient with AIDS? How is the diagnosis of cytomegalovirus infection established? What agents are available to treat the infection?