Ocular screening in severe acute respiratory syndrome

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate the ocular manifestations of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and to monitor the possible ocular complications arising from the treatment regimen with high-dose systemic corticosteroid drugs. DESIGN: Prospective, observational cohort case series. METHODS: Ninety eyes from 45 patients with the diagnosis of SARS during an epidemic outbreak in Hong Kong were analyzed. Relevant medical and ophthalmic histories were taken. Ophthalmic examinations, including best-corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slitlamp, and indirect ophthalmoscopy examination, were performed at baseline and at 2-month and 3-month follow-up. SETTING: Faculty practice in university hospital. RESULTS: Only two patients had mild elevated intraocular pressure at baseline and at subsequent follow-up. There was no loss of visual acuity, cataract progression, or increased cup-disk ratio. Fundus examinations were unremarkable in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study did not demonstrate any ocular manifestations in patients with SARS. The treatment regimen of high-dose corticosteroid also did not show any significant ocular complications. Routine ocular screening of patients with SARS for diagnosis or for complications might not be indicated.

Long-term clinical outcomes in survivors of severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreaks after hospitalisation or ICU admission: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Other outcomes that have been followed-up in SARS patients are reported in Table V. A 2004 study by Yuen et al (35) found no eye pathologies in this cohort. A 2004 case series study by Tsai et al (36) followed up patients who developed limb weakness related to critical illness neuropathy (CIN) and myopathy (CIM) and sensory deficits following infection.…”

A child confirmed COVID-19 with only symptoms of conjunctivitis and eyelid dermatitis

“…Neither MERS-CoV nor SARS-CoV described eye symptom [3][4][5] , although the presence of the virus was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in tears of patients with SARS-CoV infection 6 . Recent report showed that conjunctivitis symptoms were found in a small number of adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19, with positive results of viral nucleic acid in conjunctival sac swab samples 7 .…”

Novel Insights into the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Through the Ocular Surface and its Detection in Tears and Conjunctival Secretions: A Review

“…The presence of ocular pathology other than conjunctivitis in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection has yet to be described. Yuen et al [12] evaluated 45 patients during the epidemic outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong and did not observe any ocular manifestations. However, retinal disorders such as retinal vasculitis, retinal degeneration, and blood-retinal barrier breakdown have all been reported in experimental animal models of coronavirus infection [13,14].…”