Bilateral Acute Anterior Uveitis and Corneal Punctate Epitheliopathy in Children Diagnosed with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Secondary to COVID‐19

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To report bilateral anterior uveitis and corneal punctate epitheliopathy in children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) secondary to coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Participants and methods: Five patients who were positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies and diagnosed with MIS-C were evaluated. Ophthalmologic examinations were performed in order to reveal ocular findings in MIS-C disease.

Results: Slit lamp examinations showed bilateral non-granulomatous acute anterior uveitis in all patients and severe corneal punctuate epitheliopathy in three of the patients. These ocular findings mostly disappeared with treatment in about one week.

Conclusion: Bilateral non-granulomatous acute anterior uveitis and dry eye can be detected in patients diagnosed with MIS-C secondary to COVID-19. Even if generally, COVID-19 is not a life threatening disease in children by itself, inflammatory ocular manifestations can be detected in MIS-C secondary to COVID-19.

KEYWORDS:

• uveitis
• MIS-C
• COVID-19
• punctate epitheliopathy
• dry eye

Declaration of interest

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