Retinal Vasculitis Following COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review

Abstract

PURPOSE: We conducted a systematic review of literature to identify cases of vasculitis following corona-virus disease (COVID-19) infection and analyse their specific systemic and ocular features. METHODS: We used the key-words “retina” AND “vasculitis” AND vessels” AND COVID-19 to identify potential papers. We analysed case series, and case reports. RESULTS: 10 papers that describing 12 patients contained enough data to permit analysis and these were included in the study. There were seven female (58.3%) and five male patients (41.6%) with ages ranging from 11 to 66 (mean 42.6 years). Time from onset of the vasculitis following COVID-19 infection varied from three to 150 days (mean 41.0 days). Clinical findings were described in 15 of the 24 eyes of these 12 patients (62.5%) and included anterior uveitis; optic neuropathies; retinal infiltrates and clinical and unilateral or bilateral retinal vasculitis. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with retinal vasculitis appear to constitute a distinct subset and may require different treatment protocols.