RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND AIM: COVID-19 infection is a respiratory disease but it can have ophthalmological manifestations as well. This study aimed to investigate the ophthalmological implications of COVID-19 either during the course of the disease or after recovery. METHODS: A retrospective study included the records of 425 COVID-19 patients, proved by positive PCR swabs. The records were collected from three isolation hospitals in Gharbeya Governorate, Egypt. RESULTS: The mean age of the studied group was 41.73 ± 13.59, and 216 (50.8%) of them were males. One hundred and thirty one (30.8%) patients had ophthalmological manifestations. Among the entire patients, the most common ophthalmological presentation was conjunctivitis in 111 patients (26.1%), followed by neuro-retinal affection in 9 (2.1%), secondary fungal orbital cellulitis in 6 (1.4%), episcleritis in 3 (0.7%) and keratitis in 2 (0.5%) patients. All of the observed ophthalmological implications occurred either during the course of the disease (concurrent) or after recovery, except for the fungal orbital cellulitis which occurred only after recovery. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 could cause different eye manifestations. Recovery from the main disease does not guarantee eye safety, especially in high-risk patients.
RESUMO
PURPOSE: Organic solvents are widely used in many industries, and usually, exposure occurs with mixtures of solvents. Organic solvent mixtures are known for their ability to affect tissues of high lipid content including the myelin sheath in the nervous system. The purpose of this work was to study the evidence that long-term (more than 10 years) exposure to organic solvent mixtures among painters can induce neuro-ophthalmological effects on the function of retinal ganglion cells and the optic tract. METHODS: Twenty workers with long-term occupational exposure to mixed organic solvents were compared to 40 control subjects. The controls were matched for age, gender, and demographic characteristics but were not occupationally exposed to any known organic solvents, using the following comparators: visual evoked potential (VEP), electroretinogram (ERG), color vision (CV), and contrast sensitivity (CS) testing. Environmental monitoring was done in the work environment with consideration to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values (ACGIH-TLVs). RESULTS: The exposed group had significantly longer latency and higher amplitude of VEP waves especially P100, higher Color Confusion Index (CCI), especially affecting the blue-yellow spectrum, and lower Log CS. There was no significant difference between exposed and nonexposed groups in full-field flash ERG response; however, in the pattern ERG, the exposed group had significantly longer latency of P50, which reflects changes in the retinal ganglion cell. CONCLUSION: Long-term occupational exposure to mixed organic solvents appeared to affect the optic tract functions in the form of increasing latency of VEP response, affecting the quality of CV and decreasing CS. It also affects the retinal ganglion cell layer with increased latency of P50 of the pattern ERG response.
