Requirement of longer term antiviral therapy in patients with cytomegalovirus anterior uveitis with corneal endothelial cell damage

Background The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of therapy in patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) anterior uveitis. Patients and methods We reviewed the records of patients with CMV anterior uveitis who attended our institution between October 2010 and December 2015 and who were confirmed to have CMV DNA in the aqueous humor by polymerase chain reaction analysis. Results Fourteen immunocompetent patients (10 men and 4 women, total of 17 eyes) were enrolled. The mean ± SD age at the onset of antiviral therapy was 63.1 ± 11.3 years (range, 44–87 years). CMV DNA was not detected in the aqueous humor of 3 patients on initial testing, but it was detected on subsequent analysis. All patients underwent systemic antiviral therapy. Among the patients who were followed up for more than 6 months after starting systemic antiviral therapy, systemic antiviral therapy was successfully terminated in all 4 patients without corneal endothelial loss but had to be continued because of disease recurrence on its termination in 5 of 8 patients (62.5%) with corneal endothelial damage (P = 0.038). Conclusions Patients with corneal endothelial cell loss are likely to require longer term antiviral therapy than those without endothelial damage. In addition, whereas definitive diagnosis of CMV anterior uveitis requires the detection of CMV DNA in aqueous humor by polymerase chain reaction, one-fifth of patients in the present study tested negative on initial examination.