Acute Bilateral Neuroretinitis and Panuveitis in A Patient with Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Herein, we report a case of bilateral neuroretinitis and panuveitis in a patient recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Case presentation: A 37-year-old male patient with a history of recovered COVID-19, which was confirmed with nasopharyngeal reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), about one-month ago was referred with one-week history of bilateral severe vision loss. Visual acuity was counting fingers, and bilateral retinitis and panuveitis were revealed in ocular examination. The result of the vitreous sample using RT-PCR was positive for SARS-CoV-2 and negative for Herpesviridae viruses and mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient was successfully treated with corticosteroid.

Conclusion: We report a case of bilateral neuroretinitis and panuveitisin a recovered COVID-19 patient and positive RT-PCR of the vitreous sample. It is suggested to apply intraocular sampling and evaluation for COVID-19 in patients with the new-onset of uveitis and/or retinitis during the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2
• coronavirus disease 2019
• neuroretinitis
• panuveitis
• reverse transcyptase- polymerase chain reaction

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Zahra Emamverdian (MSc), Sepideh Nazari Noghabi (MSc), Roghaye Kahani (BSc), and Roya Gholamzadeh (BSc), and staff of Retinal Imaging Center of Khatam Eye Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.