Mortality of cytomegalovirus infection among people living with HIV: A retrospective study from a tertiary hospital in Indonesia.

Background: There are still many patients newly diagnosed with HIV at an advanced stage in Indonesia. We aimed to identify factors associated with 1-year mortality among cytomegalovirus (CMV)-infected people living with HIV (PLHIV).
Methods: This retrospective cohort study was carried out at a tertiary-care hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia (January 2017 to December 2022). We included PLHIV with CMV end-organ disease (EOD) and CMV syndrome. The presence of CMV infection was confirmed by fulfilling one of the following criteria: (1) positive PCR from plasma, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, or other body fluids, or associated tissue for CMV EOD; (2) positive immunoglobulin M (IgM); or (3) consistent symptoms and signs of CMV retinitis.
Results: Out of 1737 PLHIV, 147 (8.5%, 95% CI: 7.2 to 9.9%) were diagnosed with CMV infection. Forty (27.2%, 95% CI: 20.6 to 35.1%) patients died within 1 year of being diagnosed. Only anti-retroviral therapy (ART) defaulting (aHR 3.31, 95% CI: 1.12 to 9.73) was found to be significantly associated with 1-year mortality in multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: Defaulted ART status is significantly associated with reduced 1-year survival after CMV infection diagnosis. Patients with low CD4 counts, especially those with <50 cells/μL, should be assessed for CMV infection, monitored, and treated accordingly.
Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at https://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/and-declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.