Analysis of Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Recurrent Cytomegalovirus Retinitis after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Objective: To analyze and summarize the clinical and imaging characteristics of patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis (CMVR) relapse after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods: This retrospective case series study recruited patients with CMVR after HSCT. The study compared the patients with stable lesions and CMV-negative aqueous humor after treatment with those with relapse lesions and a CMV DNA load in aqueous humor which had increased again after treatment. The observation indexes were basic clinical information, best-corrected visual acuity, wide-angle fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), blood CD4(+) T lymphocyte count, and aqueous humor CMV load of the patients. We summarized the data and statistically analyzed the differences between the relapse and non-relapse groups, as well as the correlations of the observed indicators. Results: The study recruited 52 patients with CMVR (82 eyes) after HSCT, of whom 11 patients (15 eyes) had recurrence after treatment (21.2%). The recurrence interval was 6.4 +/- 4.9 months. The final best-corrected visual acuity of recurrent patients was 0.3 +/- 0.3. The number of CD4(+) T lymphocytes in recurrence patients at the time of onset was 126.7 +/- 80.2/mm(3). The median CMV DNA load detected in aqueous humor at the time of recurrence was 8.63 x 10(3) copies/mL. There was a significant difference in the CD4(+) T lymphocyte count between the recurrence and the non-recurrence groups at onset. The onset of visual acuity in recurrence patients was significantly correlated with final visual acuity and recurrence lesion area. The fundus of recurred CMVR showed increased marginal activity of the original stable lesion. Concurrently, yellow-white new lesions appeared around the stable, atrophic, and necrotic lesions. OCT showed new diffuse hyperreflexic lesions in the retinal neuroepithelial layer near the old lesions. Inflammatory punctate hyperreflexes were observed in the vitreous, with vitreous liquefaction and contraction. Conclusion: This study suggests that the clinical features, fundus manifestations, and imaging features of CMVR recurrence after HSCT are different from those at the initial onset. Patients should be closely followed up after their condition is stable to be alert for CMVR recurrence.