ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the ocular findings observed in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and to present the relationship between ocular involvement, systemic findings, and laboratory results. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out between 1 May and 30 June 2020. The study included 359 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and assessed by clinical evaluation, nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction, and lung computed tomography. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-seven (54.9%) of the patients were male and 162 (45.1%) were female. The mean age of the patients was 58.5 years (20-91). Two hundred ninety-four (81.9%) patients were treated in the inpatient clinic and 65 (18.1%) patients were treated in the intensive care unit. Various ocular diseases were observed in 16 (4.5%) of the patients. Although the rate of ocular disease was 12 out of 294 (4.1%) in patients followed up in the inpatient clinic, this rate was 4 out of 65 (6.2%) in intensive care patients. There was no systemic problem in one patient, in whom conjunctival hyperemia was the first and only reason for admission to the hospital. Four patients followed up in the inpatient clinic had conjunctivitis at the time of admission, and conjunctivitis occurred in three patients during hospitalization. Subconjunctival hemorrhage occurred in five patients and vitreous hemorrhage in one patient. CONCLUSION: Ocular diseases are uncommon in COVID-19 patients but may occur during the first period of the disease or during follow-up. Ocular diseases may be the initial or only sign of COVID-19 infection.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/complications , Conjunctivitis, Viral/physiopathology , Disease Outbreaks , Eye/virology , Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , Conjunctivitis, Viral/complications , Cross-Sectional Studies , Eye/pathology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , RNA, Viral/analysis , Turkey/epidemiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the presence of viral RNA of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in conjunctival swab specimen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with and without conjunctivitis to establish the diagnostic value of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in each case and to describe its clinical characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Hospital Clinico San Carlos of Madrid, Spain. Thirty-six subjects from the COVID admission unit with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. Conjunctival swabs were collected from 18 patients with conjunctivitis and 18 patients without conjunctivitis and RT-PCR was performed. Conjunctival swab was collected from both eyes of 36 patients (72 eyes), detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in conjunctival swab of two patients (5.5%). Among the 18 patients with conjunctivitis, only one of them (5.5%) showed positive results. Likewise, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in one patient without conjunctivitis (5.5%). The mean age of the 36 patients was 67.9 years (range, 28-92 years) and the male-to-female ratio was 0.44 (16:20). The mean days since the onset of COVID-19 symptoms until conjunctivitis manifestation was 8 (range, 1-24 days). The mean duration of the conjunctivitis was 3 days (range, 1-7 days). SARS-CoV-2 RNA may be detected in conjunctival swabs of both patients with and without conjunctivitis. This study revealed the same rate of positive results amongst the group with and without conjunctivitis, suggesting that detecting SARS-CoV-2 in ocular fluids is not conditioned on the presence of conjunctivitis. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in ocular samples highlights the role of the eye as a possible route of transmission of the disease.
Subject(s)
Bodily Secretions/virology , COVID-19/diagnosis , Conjunctiva/chemistry , Conjunctivitis, Viral/physiopathology , RNA, Viral/analysis , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , COVID-19/virology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Spain , Specimen HandlingABSTRACT
A 65-year-old known diabetic, hypertensive, and asthmatic patient was admitted for suspected coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection following complaints of breathlessness. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on ventilation. He developed severe follicular conjunctivitis of the right eye while on a ventilator, which was treated conservatively. The resolution of ocular signs was noted over 2 weeks without any complications. This case highlights the timeline of events and discusses the late ophthalmic manifestations in patients with COVID-19 infection.