COVID-19 and the eye: alternative facts The 2022 Bowman Club, David L. Easty lecture

Abstract

In addition to catastrophic loss of life, and dramatic and unwanted alterations to the daily lives of those left behind, the COVID-19 pandemic has fostered the publication and dissemination of an unprecedented quantity of peer-reviewed medical and scientific publications on a single subject. In particular, the ophthalmic literature is now replete with clinical and laboratory studies on putative eye involvement by SARS-CoV-2, the aetiologic agent of COVID-19. In this review, we critically appraise the published literature on COVID-19, and suggest that the quality of scientific peer review and editorial decision-making also suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retinal Changes in Patients With Covid-19 and Different Expressiveness of Metabolic Changes

“…The course of COVID-19 is also accompanied by ophthalmological manifestations. Among retinal changes, the most frequently diagnosed are cotton wool spots [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], intraretinal and petechial hemorrhages along the course of retinal vessels [1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9], tortuosity and dilatation of retinal venules [1,2,6], central retinal vein thrombosis [2,9,10], central retinal artery occlusion [3,10,11], acute macular neuroretinopathy [2,9,10], COVID-19-induced maculopathy [2]. However, there are studies in which no retinal changes were detected during COVID-19 [12].…”

“…In turn, in a limited number of works, clinical parallels are made between metabolic changes in patients' organisms and the presence and/or expressiveness of retinal changes. A number of authors [13,14] note that ophthalmic manifestations of COVID-19 occur with elevated levels of fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, ferritin, and D-dimer [15], laboratory-diagnosed anemia in patients with severe COVID-19 [16], increased levels of C-reactive protein, number of platelets, ferritin and aspartate transaminase [17], increased levels of ferritin, D-dimer, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen [13,18], increased levels of fibrinogen, D-dimer, prothrombin time [13,[19][20][21][22]. On the other hand, there are data on COVID-19-associated ophthalmological manifestations [20,[23][24][25] which were not accompanied by any metabolic changes.…”

Effect of Covid-19 on Eye Banks and Corneal Transplantations: Current Perspectives

“…From March 11, 2020, when coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic, the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 severely challenged health systems worldwide. 1,2 In this context, issues regarding donor procurement and screening, as well as the general reorganization of health care services exerted a profound negative impact on the delivery of organs and tissues for transplantation. 2,3 Corneal transplantation was not an exception.…”