Optic Nerve Head Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Findings in Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019

Abstract

Purpose: To quantify the microvasculature density of the optic nerve head (ONH) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) analysis.in patients recovered from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Methods: In a comparative cross-sectional, observational study patients recovered from COVID-19, whom diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by a positive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of a nasopharyngeal sample were included in this study. The. OCTA of ONH was performed at least 2 weeks after recovery from systemic COVID-19. Vascular density (VD) of the all vessels (AV) and small vessels (SV) inside the disc and radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) network density were measured in COVID-19 recovered patients and compared with similar parameters in an age-matched group of normal controls.Results: Twenty-five COVID-19 patients and 22 age-matched normal controls were enrolled in the study and one eye per participant was evaluated. Mean whole image SV VD in the COVID-19 group (49.94 ± 2.22) was not statistically significantly different from that in the control group (49.31 ± 1.93; p-value= 0.308). An increase in RPC VD was found in all AV and SV VD measured, which became statistically significant in whole peripapillary SV VD, peripapillary inferior nasal SV VD, peripapillary inferior temporal SV VD, peripapillary superior nasal SV VD and grid-based AV VD inferior sector (p<0.05 for all comparisons).Conclusion: Unremarkable increase was found in ONH microvasculature in patients who had recovered from COVID-19. These patients may be at risk of ONH vascular complications.