Choroidal Thickening in Patients with Coronavirus Disease – 2019

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate choroidal thickness in the macular region of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Methods: Patients recovered from COVID-19 were included in this cross-sectional study. Macular imaging with an SD-OCT device was performed at least 2 weeks after recovery from systemic COVID-19 and choroidal thickness was measured as the main outcome measure.Results: Thirty-four subjects were included in this study. One patient was monocular and high-quality SD-OCT images were available for the remaining 67 eyes. Dilated choroidal vessels were observed in 55 eyes (82%) and retinal pigment epitheliopathy was noticeable in 4 eyes (6%); these findings resemble those of the pachychoroid spectrum. The mean subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in our patients was 380.3±12.40 µm, which was significantly thicker than the previously reported SFCT in the normal population (310.7 ± 57.5 µm) (p<0.001).Conclusion: Patients with COVID-19 demonstrate remarkable changes in the choroid of the macular region.

Bilateral anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and secondary angle-closure glaucoma in a patient with COVID-19 infection

“…COVID-19 infection has the potential to cause damage to the choroid, retina, and optic nerve. Increased choroidal thickness, features of pachychoroid and abnormal dilation of Haller's layer vessels are reported in patients with COVID-19 infection in previous research 5 . As discussed above it seems that a disturbance in autoregulation of the RAAS system caused by the binding of SARS-Cov2 to ACE-2R results in endothelial dysfunction, increased vascular permeability, dilatation of retinal and choroidal vessels.…”

Bilateral anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and choroidal ischemia in a patient with COVID‐19 infection

“…COVID‐19 infection has the potential to cause damage to the choroid, retina, and optic nerve. Increased choroidal thickness, features of pachychoroid, and abnormal dilation of Haller's layer vessels are reported in patients with COVID‐19 infection in previous research 4 . As discussed above, it seems that a disturbance in autoregulation of the RAAS system caused by the binding of SARS‐Cov‐2 to ACE‐2R results in endothelial dysfunction, increased vascular permeability, dilatation of retinal, and choroidal vessels.…”

“…Increased choroidal thickness, features of pachychoroid, and abnormal dilation of Haller's layer vessels are reported in patients with COVID-19 infection in previous research. 4 As discussed above, it seems that a disturbance in autoregulation of the RAAS system caused by the binding of SARS-Cov-2 to ACE-2R results in endothelial dysfunction, increased vascular permeability, dilatation of retinal, and choroidal vessels. Changes in the retinal and optic nerve head microvasculature have been identified in previous research.…”

Changes in Anterior Chamber Parameters Measured by Pentacam in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection: A Longitudinal Study

“…A case-control study on 31 patients recovered from COVID-19 infection reported decreased vessel density in the superficial and deep retinal capillary plexus in the foveal and parafoveal regions [ 15 ]. In another study, remarkable changes of the macular region choroid were reported in a cross-sectional study on 34 patients recovered from COVID-19 infection [ 16 ]. Accordingly, this study aimed to evaluate the Pentacam parameters of the anterior segment and cornea to investigate the hypotheses of anterior segment changes secondary to uvea changes in COVID-19 infection.…”