title: Sympathetic ophthalmia in HIV infection. A clinicopathological case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study is to report a case of sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) in an HIV-infected patient on treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) 9 years after a penetrating eye injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study utilized clinical course and histopathological findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Histopathology of the enucleated right eye showed a predominantly lymphocytic inflammatory infiltration with some plasma cells and epithelioid granulomata in the choroid, suggesting the diagnosis of SO.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SO seems to be driven by T lymphocytes, specifically by the CD4 subset of T cells. HIV-infected individuals suffer a decline in CD4 T cell numbers, leading to an acquired immunodeficiency that could halt the development of the inflammatory reaction responsible for SO. The restoration of the CD4 counts by HAART therapy makes HIV-infected individuals as susceptible to SO as non-infected ones. To the best of our knowledge, there are no cases of SO in HIV-infected patients reported in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Fundacion Jimenez Diaz University Hospital, Avda Reyes Catolicos 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain, madelafuente@fjd.es.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alejandre
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: Gillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Jose L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sarasa
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sanchez