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The people with COVID-19 can develop eye problems, which can be ranged from mild to vision-threatening. There is a chance that some people with COVID-19 experience inflammation throughout their body, which can be a reason for blood clots forming. These clots can travel through the body and reach the arteries, veins and blood vessels of the eye. The purpose of this study is to estimate the presence of retinal and microvascular modifications in COVID-19 patients with bilateral pneumonia due to SARS-COV-2 that requires hospital admission and correlate this with a group of sex and age matched controls. These patients went through retinal imaging 14 days after hospital discharge with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) measurements and structural optical coherence tomography (OCT). Foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and Vessel density (VD) were checked in the superficial, choriocapillaris (CC) and deep capillary plexus (SCP, DCP). In the analysis, after exclusion criteria, only one eye per patient was selected, and 50 eyes (25 controls and 25 paniet) were included. Patients with COVID 19 presented significantly thinner ganglion cell layer and massive retinal nerve fiber layer compared to controls, and this RNFL thickening was greater in COVID-19 cases with cotton wool spots (CWS), when compared with patients without cotton wool spot. In both DCP and SCP, COVID-19 patients presented lower VD in the foveal region and a greater FAZ area than controls. These findings suggest that inflammatory and thrombotic phenomena could happenn in the retina of COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-KOV-2, a new beta-coronavirus that causes a life-threatening infection that causes more than 1 million deaths worldwide. To enter human cells, SARS-KOV-2 uses spiked proteins that bind directly to a strong affinity for human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). COVID-19 can cause serious acute respiratory diseases, distress syndrome, associated with a prothrombotic condition, and multiorgan failure with a high mortality rate in some cases. The virus transmits when people breathe in air contaminated by droplets and small airborne particles containing the virus. The risk of breathing these in is highest when people in close proximity, but they can be inhaled over longer distances, particularly indoors. Transmission can also occur if splashed or sprayed with contaminated fluids in the eyes, nose or mouth, and, rarely, via contaminated surfaces. People remain contagious for up to 20 days, and can spread the virus even if they do not develop symptoms |
