Polymerase chain reaction-based assays of vitreous samples for the diagnosis of viral retinitis. Use in diagnostic dilemmas.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to review the authors' results using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays for the diagnosis of viral retinitis. DESIGN: The study design was a retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-seven patients (38 eyes) with active retinitis from whom vitreous biopsy specimens were received in the authors' laboratory for diagnostic evaluation. INTERVENTION: Vitreous biopsy specimens were evaluated with previously described PCR-based assays for cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella zoster virus (VZV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA; clinical histories were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Laboratory findings and clinical course were measured. RESULTS: The results of the authors' assays were consistent with the long-term clinical course of each patient. Cytomegalovirus, VZV, or HSV DNA was detected in the vitreous from 24 patients. Cytomegalovirus DNA was detected in vitreous biopsy specimens from 10 patients (11 eyes). Nine patients (ten eyes) with acquired immune deficiency syndrome ultimately were diagnosed with CMV retinitis as they were followed clinically over time. Varicella zoster virus DNA was detected in vitreous biopsy specimens from eight patients; seven adult patients were ultimately diagnosed with acute retinal necrosis or progressive outer retinal necrosis. Herpes simplex virus DNA was detected in vitreous biopsy specimens from six patients; five patients had previous or subsequent herpes encephalitis. No viral DNA was detected in the vitreous from 13 patients; all were ultimately diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, syphilis, Behcet disease, fungal endophthalmitis, or idiopathic inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: These data further support the use of PCR-based assays of vitreous specimens in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with infectious retinitis.

A polymerase chain reaction-based assay for diagnosing varicella-zoster virus retinitis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

PURPOSE: To develop a rapid, sensitive, and specific laboratory assay based on the polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of varicella-zoster virus retinitis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). METHODS: We developed and tested a polymerase chain reaction-based assay for the detection of varicella-zoster virus DNA in vitreous samples. We attempted to detect varicella-zoster virus DNA in 14 vitreous samples from patients with AIDS and a clinical diagnosis of progressive outer retinal necrosis syndrome. For controls, we also attempted to detect varicella-zoster virus DNA in vitreous samples from 75 immunocompetent patients with vitreoretinal disease and 88 patients with AIDS and vitreoretinal inflammatory disease not related to progressive outer retinal necrosis syndrome. RESULTS: Varicella-zoster virus DNA was detected in 11 of 14 vitreous samples from AIDS patients with progressive outer retinal necrosis syndrome. All three samples that scored negative for varicella-zoster virus DNA came from eyes that had been treated aggressively with antiviral drugs and had clinically inactive disease at the time of vitreous biopsy. Varicella-zoster virus DNA was detected in only two of 75 control vitreous samples from immunocompetent patients with vitreoretinal disease and two of 88 control vitreous samples from patients with AIDS and vitreoretinal inflammatory disease not related to progressive outer retinal necrosis syndrome. CONCLUSION: We have developed a rapid, sensitive, and specific polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic assay for varicella-zoster virus DNA that will assist in the diagnosis of varicella-zoster virus retinitis in patients with AIDS.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome--associated herpes simplex virus retinitis. Clinical description and use of a polymerase chain reaction--based assay as a diagnostic tool.

OBJECTIVES: To describe 2 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome who experienced a rapidly progressive, bilateral retinitis due to herpes simplex virus (HSV) (1 case due to HSV type 1 [HSV-1] and 1 case due to HSV type 2 [HSV-2] and to present a novel diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay. METHODS: The presentation, clinical course, and diagnostic PCR-based assay used to make the diagnosis of HSV retinitis in 2 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are described. RESULTS: Both patients experienced a rapidly progressive, bilateral retinal necrosis associated with intraretinal hemorrhages and a diffuse vasculitis. The PCR-based assays demonstrated HSV DNA in the vitreous specimens from the 2 patients. Restriction analysis on the amplified DNA showed HSV-1 in 1 patient and HSV-2 in the second patient. The diagnosis was supported in both patients by the occurrence of a herpes simplex-like encephalitis, and in 1 patient by a positive vitreous culture. The HSV-1-associated vasculitis affected primarily the retinal arterioles, with marked capillary dropout and occlusion of larger arcade vessels. In contrast, the HSV-2-associated vasculitis affected the retinal veins more than the arterioles, and was associated with an exudative retinal detachment. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, these are the first 2 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in whom HSV has been implicated as the sole cause of a rapidly progressing, necrotizing retinitis. Combined PCR and restriction analysis of vitreous samples from such patients is a useful and highly specific means of diagnosing HSV-1 and HSV-2 retinitis.