Abstract
Purpose: To investigate relationships between contrast sensitivity (CS), color vision, and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; to evaluate the effect of time since diagnosis of HIV infection on RNFL thickness. Design: Noninterventional cross-sectional study. Methods: We evaluated 102 eyes of 57 HIV-infected individuals without ocular opportunistic infections. Peripapillary RNFL thickness was determined with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography in 4 quadrants. CS was measured with the Pelli-Robson technique (expressed as logCS); color vision was measured with the Lanthony desaturated 15-hue technique (expressed as color confusion index [C-index], with higher scores indicating worse color vision). Correlations between values were assessed using Spearman correlation coefficients. Results: Median RNFL thickness (average of 4 quadrants) was 102.9 μm (range, 75.0134.7 μm). Median logCS was 1.90 (range, 1.251.95). Median C-index was 1.58 (range, 0.964.07). Temporal RNFL thickness was correlated with logCS (r = 0.295, P =.003) and C-index (r = -0.338, P =.0005). Time since diagnosis of HIV infection was shorter for those with thick average RNFL than for those with thin average RNFL (P =.18). Conclusions: Both worse CS and worse color vision are correlated with thinning of the temporal RNFL, with possible threshold effects. Increased prevalences of abnormal CS and abnormal color vision in this population are therefore likely attributable to neuroretinal compromise. This pattern of structural and functional losses may reflect preferential damage to small-caliber axons in the maculopapillary bundle, possibly associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, providing a potential disease mechanism for HIV-associated "neuroretinal disorder."
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 734-742.e1 |
| Journal | American journal of ophthalmology |
| Volume | 153 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2012 |
Funding
All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported. Publication of this article was supported by (University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA]). Additional support was provided by the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (Los Angeles, California) through a gift to the UCLA Herb Ritts, Jr Memorial Vision Fund (Dr Holland); the Jack H. Skirball Endowed Professorship (Dr Holland); and the Vernon O. Underwood Family Endowed Fellowship (Dr Kalyani). Involved in study design (P.S.K., G.N.H., A.A.F., A.A.S.); data collection (P.S.K., T.E.F.A.); data management and analysis (P.S.K., G.N.H., A.A.F., T.E.F.A., F.Y., A.A.S.); data interpretation (P.S.K., G.N.H., A.A.F., T.E.F.A., F.Y., A.A.S.); preparation of initial draft of manuscript (P.S.K., G.N.H., A.A.S.); review and approval of manuscript (all authors, as well as Study Officers of LSOCA, representing the SOCA Research Group, reviewed and approved the manuscript). Informed consent was obtained from all subjects, and the study was conducted in accordance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations. This study was approved by the University of Southern California, UCLA, and Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Boards prior to the collection of data. Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (LSOCA) grant support from the National Eye Institute (Bethesda, Maryland). Additional support provided by National Center for Research Resources through General Clinical Research Center Grant 5M01 RR 00865 and cooperative agreement U01 AI 27660
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology
