Doctors warn that covid-19 may be able to cause persistent eye problems. A new study suggests that some people who survive a severe infection may develop growths in the back of their eyes that could lead to vision loss. It is not yet clear how covid-19 could cause these increases, or if people with milder covid-19 are also at the risk of this complication.
Researchers at the French Society of Neuroradiology looked of medical records from certain patients with severe covid-19. These patients all obtained a brain MRI at some point during the disease, which allowed the researchers to look for potential abnormalities in and around the eyes.
In total, they analyzed data from 129 patients from 16 hospitals that were infected during the first pandemic wave in France, between March and May 2020. Nine of these patients (7%) showed evidence of nodules around the back of the eyeball, most with increases in both eyes. Eight patients had also been in the intensive care unit.
People with covid-19 with abnormal test results or eye health problems, such as conjunctivitis (pink eye), have been reported occasionally. But the authors say theirs is the first study to try to estimate how often this can happen using MRI data. The findings should be enough to convince doctors to look for potential eye problems in patients. with severe diseases, they add, especially since it may be difficult to notice at first.
“Severe eye problems could go largely unnoticed, as these patients are often treated in intensive care units for more severe, life-threatening conditions,” they wrote in their paper. published Tuesday in the journal Radiology. Our data support the need for screening and follow-up of these patients to provide appropriate treatment and to improve the management of potentially severe eye conditions.
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The results have their limitations. They cannot conclusively show that covid-19 led to the growth of these eyes, nor can they explain how it could have happened if the disease had been responsible. One theory expressed by the authors is that the infection reached the eyes and directly affected the retina. Another is that inflammation caused indirectly by infection is the main culprit. This oneit is even possible that the practice of putting patients on the stomach (prone position) –a common intervention that has been shown to help patients breathe easier“He could have contributed to.” defective drainage of the veins connected to the eyes. Pre-existing circulation problems, common in patients with diabetes, could also be a factor.
Researchers are already working on future studies to better understand these potential complications. This includes the proactive study of patients with severe covid-19 from more recent pandemic waves, which would be confirm if these increases and other eye problems are indeed the result of the disease and not earlier, the hidden problem. Survivors of these increases are also monitored to see if they are at increased risk forlong-term vision problems. Researchers are also looking at a similar study, focusing on patients with mild to moderate covid-19.
“We have launched a prospective study with high-resolution MR images dedicated to exploring the eye and orbit in patients with mild to moderate COVID,” said lead author Augustin Lecler, radiologist and associate professor at the University of Paris, in a statement launched by the Radiological Society of North America, which publishes Radiology. Therefore, we will be able to know whether our results were specific to patients with severe COVID or not.