INTERNATIONAL IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN ON INTRAVITREAL THERAPY OUTCOMES: Fight Retinal Blindness Registry.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns on the outcomes of eyes treated for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion in eight countries. METHODS: A multicenter international database study of 5,782 eyes (4,708 patients) receiving intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor injections before, during, and after national lockdowns. The baseline visit was defined as the last visit within 3 months before lockdown, and prelockdown and postlockdown periods were defined as 6 months before and after the lockdown date. RESULTS: Eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n = 4,649) lost vision in all countries in proportion to the reduced number of injections. The mean visual acuity change postlockdown ranged from -0.4 to -3.8 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution letters, and the median number of injections/visits decreased from 4-5/4-7 to 2-4/2-4 postlockdown. The diabetic macular edema (n = 654) and retinal vein occlusion (n = 479) eyes' mean visual acuity change ranged from -2.8 to +1.7 letters and -1.6 to +0.1 letters, and the median number of injections/visits decreased from 2.5-5/4-6 to 1-3/2-4 and from 3-5.5/4-5 to 1-3.5/2-3.5, respectively. The 6-month dropout rates postlockdown were 20% for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, 27% for diabetic macular edema, and 28% for retinal vein occlusion. CONCLUSION: This international study provides estimates of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on intravitreal therapy and suggests that prioritizing neovascular age-related macular degeneration eyes seems appropriate.

Retinal Vascular Events after mRNA and Adenoviral-Vectored COVID-19 Vaccines-A Case Series.

BACKGROUND: To describe cases of retinal vascular events shortly after administration of mRNA or adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccines. DESIGN: Retrospective, multicenter case series. METHODS: Six cases of retinal vascular events shortly after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. RESULTS: A 38-year-old, otherwise healthy male patient presented with branch retinal arterial occlusion four days after receiving his second dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with Comirnaty® (BioNTech®, Mainz, Germany; Pfizer®, New York City, NY, USA). An 81-year-old female patient developed visual symptoms twelve days after the second dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with Comirnaty® and was diagnosed with a combined arterial and venous occlusion in her right eye. A 40-year-old male patient noticed blurry vision five days after his first dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with Comirnaty® and was diagnosed with venous stasis retinopathy in his left eye. A 67-year-old male was diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy in his right eye four days after receiving the first dose of Vaxzevria® (AstraZeneca®, Cambridge, UK). A 32-year-old man presented with a sudden onset of a scotoma two days after receiving the second dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with Spikevax® (Moderna, Cambridge, UK) and was diagnosed with a circumscribed nerve fiber infarction. A 21-year-old female patient developed an acute bilateral acute macular neuroretinopathy three days after receiving the first dose of SARS-CoV2-vaccine Vaxzevria® (AstraZeneca®, Cambridge, UK). CONCLUSION: This case series describes six cases of retinal vascular events shortly after receiving mRNA or adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccines. The short time span between received vaccination and occurrence of the observed retinal vascular events raises the question of a direct correlation. Our case series adds to further reports of possible side effects with potential serious post-immunization complications of COVID-19 vaccinations.

IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE PANDEMIC ON INTRAVITREAL INJECTIONS TREATMENT FOR MACULAR DISEASES: Report From a Referral Hospital in Milan.

PURPOSE: To describe our managing strategy for COVID-19 emergency, to evaluate the adherence to intravitreal treatment (AtT) rate during the outbreak in a referral hospital in Milan, and to correlate it with patients' clinical features. METHODS: The AtT rate of patients with scheduled intravitreal injections during the COVID-19 outbreak from February 23, 2020 to March 31, 2020 was compared with the previous trimester and with March 2019. The impact of age, sex, visual function, and diagnosis on the AtT rate during unlocked/locked weeks (from March 8th) was evaluated. RESULTS: Of 650 consecutive patients with scheduled intravitreal injections, the AtT rate during the COVID-19 outbreak was 0.37. This was significantly lower compared with AtT registered in the previous trimester (0.92) and in the same weeks in 2019 (0.90) (both P < 0.001). Patients adherent to treatment were significantly younger (P < 0.001) and had a lower best-corrected visual acuity in the fellow eye (P = 0.046). During the lockdown weeks, the AtT rate was significantly lower than in the two unlocked weeks (0.19 vs. 0.73, P < 0.001). In addition, the AtT rate in patients classified as "emergent" during the lockdown weeks was 0.60. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results can help the retina specialist community to foresee this unique scenario and to develop successful management strategies.

Retinal vessels modifications in acute and post-COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 primarily affecting the respiratory system which can damage vessels walls virtually in any body district. Changes affecting retinal vessels are a good marker for systemic vascular alterations. This study investigated retinal vessels during the acute phase of COVID-19 and after patients recovery. Fifty-nine eyes from 32 COVID-19 patients and 80 eyes from 53 unexposed subjects were included. Mean arteries diameter (MAD) and mean veins diameter (MVD) were assessed through semi-automatic analysis on fundus color photos at baseline and 6 months later in patients and subjects unexposed to the virus. At baseline MAD and MVD were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients compared to unexposed subjects (p < 0.0001). Both MAD and MVD significantly decreased in COVID-19 patients at follow-up (from 97.5 ± 10.9 to 92.2 ± 11.4 µm, p < 0.0001 and from 133.1 ± 19.3 to 124.6 ± 16.1 µm, p < 0.0001, respectively). Despite this reduction vessels diameter remained significantly higher in severe COVID-19 patients compared to unexposed subjects. Transient retinal vessels dilation could serve a biomarker for systemic inflammation while long-lasting alterations seen in severe COVID-19 likely reflect irreversible structural damage to the vessels walls and should be further investigated for their possible effects on tissues perfusion and function.

COVID-19-Related Retinal Micro-vasculopathy - A Review of Current Evidence.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the occurrence of retinal microvasculopathy in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and who developed coronavirus disease (COVID-19). DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: The Pubmed and Embase databases were comprehensively searched to identify studies that reported retina vascular changes in eyes with COVID-19. Two independent reviewers selected papers and extracted data for analysis. Data of interest were extracted and analyzed in RevMan Web versions 3.3. Quality of evidence was assessed using the National Institute of Health quality assessment tool for a case-control study. RESULTS: Thirty-one studies reporting on 1373 subjects (972 COVID-19 and 401 controls) were included. Only case-control studies were included in the pooled analysis. There was a significantly higher likelihood of retinal microvasculopathy in subjects with COVID-19 compared to controls (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 8.86 [2.54-27.53], P < .01). Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) revealed reduced vessel density and enlarged foveal avascular zone in subjects with COVID-19 compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that COVID-19-related retinal microvasculopathy is a significant ocular manifestation of COVID-19 and may herald future retinal complications. These microvascular impairments might have occurred antecedent to clinically visible changes and could be detected earlier by OCTA. These findings are significant, due to the large numbers with COVID-19, and need to be recognized by ophthalmologists as a potential long-term sequalae of the disease.

Anterior uveitis onset after bnt162b2 vaccination: is this just a coincidence?

BACKGROUND: Uveitis is a vision-threatening inflammation and is considered an ophthalmic emergency. It generally arises as a result of autoimmune conditions, infections, or ocular trauma, but it may also occur as an isolated disorder. Over the past decades, several cases of vaccine-associated uveitis have been described, with the hepatitis B virus vaccine being the leading cause. CLINICAL CASE: A case of anterior uveitis in a 23-year-old male, with onset 14 days after the second dose of BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine, is reported here. Initial symptoms were pain, photophobia, and red eye. Ocular examination showed pericheratic and conjunctival hyperaemia, posterior synechiae, and anterior chamber cells ± keratic precipitates in the lower quadrants. The posterior segment did not show any alteration, and optical coherence tomography ruled out the presence of cystoid macular oedema. After a 10-day treatment course of topical steroids and cycloplegic eye drops, the ocular inflammatory signs disappeared and visual acuity was completely restored. Even if causality remains presumed, a warning should be given to physicians about the possibility of eye inflammation following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

How to Manage COVID-19 Vaccination in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: An Expert Opinion by IMIDs Study Group.

Since March 2020, the outbreak of Sars-CoV-2 pandemic has changed medical practice and daily routine around the world. Huge efforts from pharmacological industries have led to the development of COVID-19 vaccines. In particular two mRNA vaccines, namely the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and the mRNA-1273 (Moderna), and a viral-vectored vaccine, i.e. ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca), have recently been approved in Europe. Clinical trials on these vaccines have been published on the general population showing a high efficacy with minor adverse events. However, specific data about the efficacy and safety of these vaccines in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are still lacking. Moreover, the limited availability of these vaccines requires prioritizing some vulnerable categories of patients compared to others. In this position paper, we propose the point of view about the management of COVID-19 vaccination from Italian experts on IMIDs and the identification of high-risk groups according to the different diseases and their chronic therapy.

Impending Central Retinal Vein Occlusion in a Patient with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

PURPOSE: To report a case of impending central retinal vein occlusion (iCRVO) in a COVID-19 patient. CASE REPORT: A 54 years old woman with COVID-19 related pneumonia presented to our emergency department complaining of scotomas and decreased vision in her right eye. Funduscopic examination and multimodal imaging revealed rare retinal hemorrhages, retinal whitening, and fern-like hypo-autofluorescent appearance typical of iCRVO. She had no risk factors other than a transient hyper-coagulability status likely related to the ongoing infection. Systemic treatment with steroids normalized her inflammatory and coagulation status and the occlusion completely resolved. CONCLUSIONS: Retinal circulation should be considered as a potential site for thromboembolic complications from COVID-19.

Retinal findings in patients with COVID-19: Results from the SERPICO-19 study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated to microvascular alterations. We screened the fundus of patients with COVID-19 to detect alterations of the retina and its vasculature and to assess possible correlations with clinical parameters. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. The presence of retinal alterations in patients with COVID-19 and subjects unexposed to the virus was assessed using fundus photographs and their prevalence was compared. Mean arteries diameter (MAD) and mean veins diameter (MVD) were compared between patients and unexposed subjects with multiple linear regression including age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index, smoking/alcohol consumption, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes as covariates. The influence of clinical/lab parameters on retinal findings was tested in COVID-19 patients. FINDINGS: 54 patients and 133 unexposed subjects were enrolled. Retinal findings in COVID-19 included: haemorrhages (9·25%), cotton wools spots (7·4%), dilated veins (27·7%), tortuous vessels (12·9%). Both MAD and MVD were higher in COVID-19 patients compared to unexposed subjects (98·3 ± 15·3 µm vs 91·9 ± 11·7 µm, p = 0.006 and 138·5 ± 21·5 µm vs 123·2 ± 13·0 µm, p<0.0001, respectively). In multiple regression accounting for covariates MVD was positively associated with COVID-19 both in severe (coefficient 30·3, CI95% 18·1-42·4) and non-severe (coefficient 10·3, CI95% 1·6-19·0) cases compared to unexposed subjects. In COVID-19 patients MVD was negatively correlated with the time from symptoms onset (coefficient -1·0, CI 95% -1·89 to -0·20) and positively correlated with disease severity (coefficient 22·0, CI 95% 5·2-38·9). INTERPRETATION: COVID-19 can affect the retina. Retinal veins diameter seems directly correlated with the disease severity. Its assessment could have possible applications in the management of COVID-19. FUNDING: None.