COVID-19 and Immunosuppressive Therapy in Ocular Inflammatory Disease, a Telemedicine Survey

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Determine the risk of immunomodulatory therapy (IMT) for COVID-19 infection morbidity.

Method: A telemedicine survey on patients of a referral uveitis clinic was performed. Signs of infection, habits, and hospitalizations during the 7 months of the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the study date were recorded. Suggestive findings in chest CT scan and/or positive RT-PCR were considered as confirmed COVID-19 infection while those with only suggestive symptoms were considered as suspected cases. Risk factors including sanitary measures and IMT were compared between patients with confirmed cases and patients without infection.

Result: 694 patients were included. Eight patients were identified as confirmed cases and 22 patients as suspected cases of COVID-19 infection. Close contact with infected persons was the only significant risk factor for contracting COVID-19.

Conclusion: Using IMT did not affect hospitalization and/or ICU admission and can thus be continued during the pandemic, provided that instructions for preventive measures are followed.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• immunomodulatory therapy
• uveitis

Acknowledgments

All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship of this article, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given their approval for this version to be published.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

This study was approved by the New England Institutional Review Board, which has issued a waiver of informed consent for the retrospective chart review analysis.

This study was performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964, and its later amendments.

All participants provided consent for publication if any identifying information is included in the manuscript.

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Disclosures

Dr. C Stephen Foster declares the following:

Consultancies with Aldeyra Therapeutics (Lexington, MA), Allakos (Redwood City, CA), Bausch & Lomb Surgical, Inc (Rancho Cucamonga, CA), Eyegate Pharma (Waltham, MA), Genentech (South San Francisco, CA), Novartis (Cambridge, MA), pSivida (Watertown, MA)

Grants or grants pending with Aciont (Salt Lake City, UT), Alcon (Aliso Viejo, CA), Aldeyra Therapeutics (Lexington, MA), Bausch & Lomb (Rochester, NY), Clearside Biomedical (Alpharetta, GA), Dompé pharmaceutical (Milan, Italy), Eyegate Pharma (Waltham, MA), Mallinckrodt pharmaceuticals (Staines-upon-Thames, UK), Novartis Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA), pSivida (Watertown, MA), Santen (Osaka, Japan).

Payment for lectures including service on speaking bureaus: Alcon (Aliso Viejo, CA), Allergan (Dublin, Ireland), Mallinckrodt pharmaceuticals (Staines-upon-Thames, UK).

Stock or Stock Options: Eyegate Pharma (Waltham, MA)

The other authors have nothing to declare.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

There is no financial support for this study.