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CMV retinitis

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment
• Prevention

Symptoms:

Note: Many patients with CMV retinitis have no symptoms.

• floaters (small spots in the vision)
• decreased visual acuity
• loss of peripheral vision
• blurred vision
• blind spots

Signs and tests:

CMV retinitis is diagnosed through a standard ophthalmologic exam. Dilation of the pupils and indirect ophthalmoscopy will show signs of CMV retinitis.

Diagnosis of CMV infection can be made through the following tests:

• Blood or urine culture : a blood or urine sample is cultured to see if it will grow the virus in the laboratory. Results take as long as 3 weeks.
• CMV PCR: this is a blood test that detects the presence and amount of CMV in the blood.
• CMV antigenemia test: this blood test detects the viral particles on the surface of white blood cells. This can indicate if the virus is replicating in the body or is inactive.
• CMV serology : this test detects CMV antibodies in the blood. Most people have two types of antibodies, IgG (which indicate old infection) and IgM (which indicate new infection).
• Tissue biopsy for culture: a biopsy of the tissue (often from the lung or stomach) that CMV is thought to have infected is cultured in the laboratory to see if it will grow the virus. This tissue can also be examined in the laboratory for evidence of viral infection and presence of CMV viral particles.

• Review Date: 2/13/2006
• Reviewed By: Monica Gandhi, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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