Clinical Manifest Of Post Covid-19 Syndrome On Ocular Surface And Cornea.

Coronavirus disease (COVID – 19) was one of the most severe pandemics that the world has ever seen. The infection ranges from asymptomatic, mild to life threatening respiratory distress. It can affect almost every organ of the body, including the organ of vision. Ophthalmic manifestations may be present in the course of COVID-19 infection or they may develop later in rehabilitation period. The aim of the research is to facilitate the diagnostics and initiation of comprehensive therapy of pathological eye conditions of ocular surface and cornea that occur in coronavirus disease.

 We believe it is important for ophthalmologists to have knowledge about the ophthalmic manifestations of the novel viral infection in order to suspect, diagnose, refer and treat the conditions. This article gives an overview of the ophthalmic conditions that have been associated with the virus, directly or indirectly. We have also tried to categorize the manifestations into the phase of the coronavirus disease-19  when they are most likely to present.

Literature research has been made in PubMed for 'COVID-19 ocular surface and cornea'. Articles in the English language, published between January 1, 2020 to January  31, 2020, were studied, analyzed and presented in the given article. All the cases were diagnosed as COVID-19 based on nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swabs or antibody titers.    

Follicular conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is the most common ophthalmic manifestation documented in COVID-19 patients. In a large series of cases with mild COVID-19 infection, Sindhuja et al. reported that 11/127 (8.66%) patients had conjunctivitis. 

Hemorrhagic and pseudomembranous conjunctivitis

Navel et al. in France reported a case of a 63-year-old male patient with severe COVID-19 infection, admitted in intensive care unit (ICU), developing hemorrhagic and pseudomembranous conjunctivitis 19 days after the onset of systemic symptoms. Treatment was with azithromycin and dexamethasone drops and daily debridement of pseudomembrane.

The prevalence of ophthalmic manifestations among COVID-19 patients ranges from 2-32%.[¹²]. The given complications certainly deteriorate the life quality of individuals with COVID-19 infection. Thus it is crucial for eye-care specialists to get familiarized with the data provided in fresh researches carried out worldwide as well as in the given literature review and to be able to recognize and address them with sophisticated knowledge.