|
|
PHOTO ESSAY |
|
Year : 2016 | Volume
: 64
| Issue : 2 | Page : 149-150 |
|
Syphilitic uveitis as the presenting feature of HIV
Ekta Rishi1, Madanagopalan V Govindarajan1, Jyotirmay Biswas2, Mamta Agarwal2, S Sudharshan2, Pukhraj Rishi1
1 Bhagwan Mahavir Vitreoretinal Services, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 2 Department of Uveitis and Inflammatory Disorders, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Date of Submission | 24-Jan-2015 |
Date of Acceptance | 19-Oct-2015 |
Date of Web Publication | 5-Apr-2016 |
Correspondence Address: Dr. Ekta Rishi Shri Bhagwan Mahavir Vitreoretinal Services, Sankara Nethralaya, 18 College Road, Chennai - 600 006, Tamil Nadu India
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0301-4738.179714
Keywords: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, eye, human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis, uveitis
How to cite this article: Rishi E, Govindarajan MV, Biswas J, Agarwal M, Sudharshan S, Rishi P. Syphilitic uveitis as the presenting feature of HIV. Indian J Ophthalmol 2016;64:149-50 |
A 25-year-old male presented with visual loss in the right eye for 20 days and best-corrected visual acuity of counting fingers in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. The anterior chamber (AC) had old keratic precipitates, no AC reaction, dense vitritis, active multifocal retinochoroiditis, and retinal vascular sheathing in all quadrants. The left eye showed sheathed blood vessels with chorioretinal atrophy [Figure 1]. | Figure 1: (a) Color fundus montage of the right eye shows vitritis, vascular sheathing, and retinochoroidal infiltrates. (b) Enlarged view of multifocal retinochoroidal infiltrates with vitreous exudates in the right eye. (c) Color fundus montage of left eye showing vascular sclerosis and healed retinochoroiditis in the superotemporal quadrant
Click here to view |
The regular bacteriologic and viral investigations on the aqueous and vitreous samples were negative. ELISA for HIV 1 and 2 was positive. Rapid plasma regain (RPR) was reactive at a dilution of >1:32, and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) was positive at more than 1:1280 dilution [Table 1].
The patient was started on tapering dose of oral steroids (1 mg/kg/day), antiretroviral therapy (tenofovir 300 mg, lamivudine 300 mg, and efavirenz 600 mg once daily). Intramuscular penicillin was administered for 3 weeks (2.4 million units every week).
After 2 months, visual acuity improved to 20/30, and vitreous inflammation cleared leaving behind retinal pigment epithelium mottling [Figure 2]. | Figure 2: Color fundus montage picture of the right eye showing resolution of vitritis and retinochoroiditis with retinal pigment epithelium mottling 2 months following initiation of treatment
Click here to view |
Discussion | | |
Syphilis is caused by the spirochete, Treponema pallidum. The disease has also been referred to as the great imitator.[1],[2]
The prevalence of syphilis had decreased in the preceding two decades. At present, up to 70% patients with ocular syphilis are HIV positive. Syphilis is the underlying cause of uveitis in 16.4% of all cases.[3] Generalized creamy white infiltrates and diffuse retinitis is a peculiar feature of advanced syphilitic uveitis.[4]
Syphilis elicits both a humoral and a cell-mediated immune response and can be detected by RPR and TPHA tests.[5]
This case emphasizes that syphilitic uveitis can present as a feature of undetected HIV. One needs to have a high degree of suspicion to arrive at a correct diagnosis and to institute prompt therapy.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References | | |
1. | Puech C, Gennai S, Pavese P, Pelloux I, Maurin M, Romanet JP, et al. Ocular manifestations of syphilis: Recent cases over a 2.5-year period. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2010;248:1623-9. |
2. | Durnian JM, Naylor G, Saeed AM. Ocular syphilis: The return of an old acquaintance. Eye (Lond) 2004;18:440-2. [ PUBMED] |
3. | Rose-Nussbaumer J, Goldstein DA, Thorne JE, Arantes TE, Acharya NR, Shakoor A, et al. Uveitis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected persons with CD4+ T-lymphocyte count over 200 cells/mL. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol 2014;42:118-25. |
4. | Fu EX, Geraets RL, Dodds EM, Echandi LV, Colombero D, McDonald HR, et al. Superficial retinal precipitates in patients with syphilitic retinitis. Retina 2010;30:1135-43. |
5. | Eandi CM, Neri P, Adelman RA, Yannuzzi LA, Cunningham ET Jr.; International Syphilis Study Group. Acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis: Report of a case series and comprehensive review of the literature. Retina 2012;32:1915-41. |
[Figure 1], [Figure 2]
[Table 1]
This article has been cited by | 1 |
Prognostic effect of HIV on visual acuity in ocular syphilis: a systematic review |
|
| Laura Z. Wu, Tatiana M. Orlowski, Malshi Karunatilake, Stephen Lee, Prosanta Mondal, Siddharth Kogilwaimath, Lulu L. C. D. Bursztyn | | Eye. 2023; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 2 |
Clinical Features of Ocular Syphilis: a Retrospective Clinical Study in an Italian Referral Centre |
|
| Antonietta Moramarco, Fabiana Mallone, Maria Pia Pirraglia, Alice Bruscolini, Rosalia Giustolisi, Maurizio La Cava, Alessandro Lambiase | | Seminars in Ophthalmology. 2020; 35(1): 50 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 3 |
Ocular syphilis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy |
|
| Sridharan Sudharshan, NitinK Menia, Poongulali Selvamuthu, Mudit Tyagi, N Kumarasamy, Jyotirmay Biswas | | Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2020; 68(9): 1887 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | |
|
|
|
|