Alteraciones de la superficie ocular en pacientes con VIH/SIDA

objective: to describe the main clinical symptoms of hiv/aids to the level of ocular surface. method: an exploratory study about the topic was carried out from october to december 2010. the theme was sought out in the bibliographic database of medline, ebsco, hinari, scielo and others. the information was collected, as well as interviews to specialists were conducted in order to write the final details of the research. development: the infection caused by human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) provokes a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms due to the affection of multiple organs and systems. the frequencies of the ocular manifestations vary from 30% to 70% of the total of patients suffering from aids, 3 out of 4 cases can develop the clinical ophthalmologic disease at any moment. these alterations can affect any structures of the bulbus oculi. the main clinical manifestations of the disease in the ocular surface are: conjuntival microangiopathy, conjunctivitis, dry-eyed syndrome, stevens-johnson syndrome, kaposi’s sarcoma, conjuntival carcinoma, keratitis by microsporidium, atypical variants of keratitis due to simple herpes. conclusion: clinical manifestations of hiv/aids to the level of ocular surface are frequent, and in occasions, its course is severe, with a high rate of atypical characteristics.