COVID-19 Retinal Findings in Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Units and Wards

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study was to investigate ocular clinical findings in patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection, of various levels of disease severity, who required mechanical ventilation and admission to intensive care units or specialized wards. Longitudinal, observational study conducted from March 2020 to June 2020. Color fundus and red-free photography were performed in both eyes following pupillary dilation. 104 participants were recruited from 2 different centers: 60 (58%) from the Hospital Municipal de Barueri intensive care unit (ICU) and 44 (42%) from specialized wards for patients with COVID-19 at the Hospital São Paulo. 21.9% presented with eye lesions, in 3% these lesions were vision compromising. Our results have shown similar rate of intraocular lesions in patients in both the ward or intensive care unit, regardless of medication use, including anticoagulant drugs.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronavirus disease
• hypercoagulability
• eye
• color fundus photography
• red-free photography

Declaration of interest

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

Additional information

Funding

Vision Institute, CNPq, FINEP, CAPESConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) [403482/2020-8].