Abstract
ImportanceA small number of COVID-19 patients has been reported to suffer from acute keratoconjunctivitis. In very rare cases, acute inflammatory retinal vein occlusion, papillophlebitis or retinopathy have been observed.ObjectiveTo determine possible long-term effects on the eye, especially on the retina, in patients who had suffered from COVID-19 at least 3 months after recovery.DesignProspective cross-sectional study.SettingHospital of the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich.ParticipantsPatients who had been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG serum antibodies in the Hospital of the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich between May and September.MethodsPatients who had tested positive were either hospitalized or discharged into home quarantine via the emergency room. Three months after recovery, they were invited to participate voluntarily for this study during their follow-up in our clinic. A complete ophthalmological exam including functional and imaging end points (including optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography) was performed.Main outcomes and measuresVisual acuity, slit lamp, bio microscopy and fundoscopy, multimodal imaging findings.ResultsIn total, 21 patients were examined. The mean age (SD) of the patients was 48.7 (18.3) years. Of these, 14 (66.6%) were hospitalized and 7 (33.3) were discharged home. Two hospitalized patients (9.5%) received invasive ventilation.During the infection, 14 of the 21 patients (66.6%) were in regular care whereas 2 patients (9.5%) received intensive care ventilation for 8.5 (SD) (0.7) days on average in the COVID ICU. Ophthalmological examination of the previously hospitalized group took place 111.4 (23.2) days after recovery and discharge from the hospital, while non-hospitalized patients were examined after mean 123.4 (44.7) days. All patients showed normal findings for anterior and posterior segment of both eyes. OCT and OCT-A showed no evidence of retinal damage, or vascular or microvascular events.Conclusion and relevanceThis study with a small prospective cohort of 21 patients indicates that there might be no evidence of ocular complications at 3 months after recovery from COVID-19, without previous eye involvement. Further studies with more participants with and without acute ocular symptoms are necessary for final evidence.
Highlights
Prior to 2019, coronaviruses, first discovered in 1968 [1], caused two epidemic outbreaks: In Hong Kong in 2003, in the form of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) [2,3,4] and in Saudi Arabia in 2012, in form of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [5, 6]
14 of the 21 patients (66.6%) were in regular care whereas 2 patients (9.5%) received intensive care ventilation for 8.5 (SD) (0.7) days on average in the COVID ICU
This study with a small prospective cohort of 21 patients indicates that there might be no evidence of ocular complications at 3 months after recovery from COVID-19, without previous eye involvement
Summary
Prior to 2019, coronaviruses, first discovered in 1968 [1], caused two epidemic outbreaks: In Hong Kong in 2003, in the form of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) [2,3,4] and in Saudi Arabia in 2012, in form of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [5, 6]. At about the same time, the first outbreak occurred in Italy, which drew the attention of the scientific community to the political, health and therapeutic management of this crisis [9]. Thanks to the experience of the health care workers (HCW) and the constant exchange in the scientific community, any knowledge about patient management, triaging and current therapy recommendations was quickly and adequately accessible and under constant validation [9, 10]. An important finding was that the HCW infection rate was 12% by July 2020, showing how highly contagious and how extremely important protective measures are in dealing with COVID-19 patients [9]
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