Ocular Manifestations among HIV Infected Children in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Ocular manifestations among HIV infected children are diverse and global incidence varies from 7% to 75%. At this age, eye lesions are often unnoticed because of the incapacity to express eye discomfort. The purpose of this study is to describe ocular manifestations among HIV-infected children and hence associated factors in the Department of Paediatrics at the Yalgado Ouedraogo Teaching Hospital. This was a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study conducted between July 2014 and December 2014. A complete ophthalmic examination was systematically done to all HIV-positive children attending the clinic, as part of their routine medical visit. The most recent socio-demographic, clinical, biological and treatment data were registered. Seventy-nine children had an ocular examination and among them 92.4% were on ARV treatment. The incidence of ocular manifestations was 46.7%. Median age was 8 years old (interquartile 6 - 12 years old). Sex ratio was 1.3. The risk of ocular manifestations involvement among boys was twice than that of girls. More than half (59.5%) of children who had ocular problems had not expressed ocular discomfort. Ocular adnexal lesions were more common (35.4%) compared to eye segments (8.9%) lesions. Anterior segment and posterior segment lesions were statistically associated with immune system depression (p = 0.003 and 0.001). However, this relationship was not statistically significant (p = 0.15). Five out of seven children who had eye fundus lesions had CD4 count 3. Ocular manifestations were very common among HIV infected children in our context. Ophthalmic examination should be systematic at admission and regularly repeated during follow-up.