Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36944709›Full record

SynthesisEye (London, England)2023

Prognostic effect of HIV on visual acuity in ocular syphilis: a systematic review.

Laura Z Wu, Tatiana M Orlowski, Malshi Karunatilake, Stephen Lee, Prosanta Mondal, Siddharth Kogilwaimath, Lulu L C D Bursztyn

Open access · greenAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Eye (London, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Putative mechanisms of ocular inflammation in syphilis.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Laura Z WuCollege of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. laura.wu@usask.ca.ORCID 0000-0001-6361-0824
Tatiana M OrlowskiCollege of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Malshi KarunatilakeDepartment of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Stephen LeeDivision of Infectious Diseases, University of Saskatchewan, Regina, SK, Canada.
Prosanta MondalDepartment of Community Health & Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Siddharth KogilwaimathDivision of Infectious Diseases, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Lulu L C D BursztynDepartment of Ophthalmology, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
University of Saskatchewan · CAUniversity of Alberta · CAWestern University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesOcular syphilis is a vision-threatening disease that can lead to permanent blindness if left untreated. The global re-emergence of syphilis warrants greater investigations into the visual prognosis of eyes affected by this potentially devastating disease. This systematic review investigates the impact of HIV on visual acuity (VA) outcomes in ocular syphilis.

methodsA literature search of Medline, PubMed, Embase, Clinicaltrials.gov and Cochrane Reviews was conducted for studies published between 01 January 2011 and 19 March 2022, reporting non-aggregate initial and post-treatment VA data of eyes with ocular syphilis and corresponding HIV status in patients ≥ 18 years.

resultsA total of 95 studies, including 364 patients and 568 eyes, were evaluated. Among people living with HIV with a diagnosis of ocular syphilis, affected eyes were more likely to have optic nerve involvement and panuveitis. However, HIV status, CD4 cell count, and HIV viral load were not predictive of VA outcomes of treated ocular syphilis. Prognostic factors of final VA worse than 1.00 logMAR were female sex, the presence of macular edema, and VA ≥ 1.00 at presentation. The strongest predictor of a worse final VA was VA ≥ 1.00 at presentation.

conclusionsThis systematic review demonstrates that HIV status, CD4 cell count, and HIV viral load are not significant factors impacting VA outcomes of eyes with ocular syphilis. While visual prognosis is generally good, poor visual outcome is most strongly predicted by poor VA at presentation. This underscores the importance of early recognition and treatment prior to permanent vision loss.

Indexed as

Eye Infections, BacterialHIV InfectionsSyphilisVisual AcuityCD4 Lymphocyte CountHumansPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID36944709
PMCPMC10564912
OpenAlexW4328127672

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.