Prevalence of ocular manifestations in children with HIV/AIDS aged day 1-15 years in a Kolkata teaching hospital

• Author Details:   
• Ayan Mitra ^*
• Shilpi Bose
• Rinki Saha
• Tulika Ghoshal
• Mukul Chandra Bswas
• Payal Manna
• Arnab Pal

---

Background: AIDS is one of the dreadful diseases globally which can affect any organ of the body. Paediatric HIV is increasing day by day. Ocular manifestations make the management more difficult. Early diagnosis and intervention can reduce its morbidity. Ocular manifestations in paediatric population has been studied very less in India. This study aims at finding out paediatric ocular manifestations in AIDS.

Aim: To assess the prevalence and types of ocular manifestations in paediatric HIV/AIDS patients aged day 1-15 years.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was done. Data were retrieved from medical records of patients registered at ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy) centre, KPC medical college and Hospital, Kolkata. Patients included in the study were children of day 1 to 15 years age who got registered at ART centre in between April 2023 to March 2024 (a duration of 12 months). Data was collected in MS Excel and analysed by SPSS software version 29.

Results: Out of total 117 seropositive children 61(52.14%) were male and 56 (47.86%) were female. The most common age group was seen to be that of 11-15 years (46.15%). The most common route of transmission observed was vertical route (92.30%). Most of the children (71.8%) were having absolute CD4 count > 500 cells/mm³ at the time of enrolment at ART centre. Ocular manifestation was observed in 15.81% of total study population, amongst which allergic conjunctivitis, dry eyes and Molluscum contagiosum were most common anterior segment manifestations while Retinal perivasculitis and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis were most common posterior segment manifestations.

Conclusion: Allergic conjunctivitis was commonest anterior segment manifestations while retinal perivasculitis was most frequent  posterior segment features. Reduced CD4 count plays an important role in predicting ocular associations in HIV. Regular ophthamological examination and referral should be emphasised in HIV/AIDS affected children to prevent blindness and decrease ocular morbidity.

Keywords: Ocular manifestations, Paediatric HIV, Allergic conjunctivitis, Retinal perivasculitis, CD4 count.