Evaluation of the Effect of Covid-19 on Optic Disk and Macula with Oct and Oct-Angiography
Abstract PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the optic nerve, retina, and retinal vessel parameters in recovered COVID-19 patients and compare to the healthy subjects by using optical coherence tomography (OCT), optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A).METHODS: Fiftysix eyes of 29 patients recovered from COVID-19 infection and 47 eyes of 26 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. COVID-19 patients had to be fully recovered and were evaluated 1-3 months after COVID-19 infection. The primary outcome resulted from OCTA studies of the following vascular structures: vessel density (VD) in the foveal superficial capillary plexus (SFVD), foveal deep capillary plexus (DFVD), parafoveal superficial capillary plexus (SPVD), parafoveal deep capillary plexus (SPVD), radial peripapillary capillaries (RPC), whole disc (WD), inside disc (InD), superior,inferior, nasal, temporal peripapillary retinal VD and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) compared to those of controls. Structural spectral domain (SD)-OCT parameters were also evaluated, foveal macular thickness (FMT), parafoveal macular thickness (PMT), choroidal thickness (CT) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL).RESULTS: The patients showed a significant reduction in SPVD compared to those in healthy subjects (P=0.008). COVID-19 patients featured an increased CT compared to that in controls (P <0.001). No differences were found in the FMT or PMT between the groups. VD of WD was not significantly different between the groups but InD VD was reduced in patient group (p=0.027). The superior RNFL was increased in the COVID-19 group compared to that in controls (p=0.022).CONCLUSION: The eye is among the organs affected in COVID-19 infection. OCT and OCTA is a valuable non-invasive method that can be used to monitor the effects of COVID-19 on the retina, choroid and optic disc.