ABSTRACT
Purpose
To investigate the pupillary diameter and pupillary light response in patients who have recovered from the COVID-19.
Methods
Thirty two eyes of 32 patients with a history of COVID-19 in the last two months and 32 eyes of 32 age and sex-matched healthy controls were included in this prospective study. All patients had neurological symptoms. Dynamic and static pupillometry measurements were performed with the Sirius (CSO, Italy) corneal topography device.
Results
Patients with COVID-19 had higher mean scotopic, mesopic, and photopic pupil diameters compared to the controls (p = .01, p = .04, p = .02, respectively). In dynamic pupillometry analysis, 0th, 2th, 8th and 16th second pupil diameter measurements were higher in COVID-19 patients (p = .02, p = .04, p = .04, p = .04, respectively). There were no differences in the average speed of pupillary dilatation (p > .05).
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that the pupillary response, an indicator of autonomic nervous system activity, may be affected in COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.