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

• Published in: Ocular immunology and inflammation Vol. ahead-of-print; no. ahead-of-print; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Nageeb Louz, Ramy Emad, Salah Eddin, Mohamad Amr, Macky, Tamer A., Tolba, Doaa Ahmed Abdelrahman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Capillary vascular density; OCTA; post COVID-19; retinal vasculature; Capillary vascular density; post COVID-19; OCTA; retinal vasculature
• ISSN: 0927-3948; 1744-5078
• DOI: 10.1080/09273948.2022.2141651

To study the effect of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) on retinal vasculature by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA). 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). 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). This study found asymptomatic retinal vascular affection in post COVID-19 eyes showing a relation with disease clinical and laboratory features.