Post COVID-19 Retinal Evaluation Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography: A Case Control Study

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To study the effect of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) on retinal vasculature by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA).

Methods

Macular OCTA images of patients recovered from COVID-19 infections were studied including foveal avascular zone (FAZ), capillary vascular densities (CVD) of the superficial and deep capillary network (SCP, DCP), and central foveal thickness (CFT).

Results

The FAZ area was significantly larger in post COVID-19 cases compared to the healthy controls (p=0.032). Post COVID-19 cases had significant lower CVDs in perifoveal quadrants of the SCP. They also had lower CVD in the whole area, parafoveal, temporal and inferior perifoveal areas in the DCP. The parafoveal DCP area showed a positive correlation with disease duration (r=0.249, p-value=0.018). The whole SCP was significantly larger in cases with lymphopenia (p-value=0.004).

Conclusion

This study found asymptomatic retinal vascular affection in post COVID-19 eyes showing a relation with disease clinical and laboratory features.

KEYWORDS:

• Capillary vascular density
• OCTA
• post COVID-19
• retinal vasculature

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contribution

All authors contributed equally in this study idea, design, data collection, analysis and drafting the manuscript.

Data availability

This study raw data is available for journal, reviewers, and publisher.

Consent to participate (Ethics)

All participants received oral and written consents as mentioned in methodology.

Consent to publish (Ethics)

We give our consent for the journal to publish our study once accepted.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available upon formal request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.