title: Half-life of cotton-wool spots in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
abstract: Cotton-wool spots are a hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) retinopathy in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). We analysed the half-life of cotton-wool spots in AIDS in a prospective study, and found the average time to disappearance to be 6.9 weeks. HIV retinopathy differs from diabetic retinopathy in having a smaller size cotton-wool spot and a much shorter half-life, suggesting a patchy involvement of the retinal capillaries in AIDS and a widespread capillary disease in preproliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mansour
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodenko
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dutt
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*