The Effect of Post-Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection on the Retinal Microvasculature

To evaluate the short‑term microvasculature changes of the macula and optic disc following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).

This study included 150 eyes (50 eyes of healthy controls and 100 eyes of patients) during the 1st month following COVID‑19 recovery, as evidenced by two negative polymerase chain reactions. A complete ophthalmic examination and optical coherence tomography angiography were performed to detect the deep and superficial macular vessel density (VD). In addition, the VD of the optic disc was evaluated.

Deep VD (DVD) showed a statistically significant decrease in post‑COVID‑19 patients, particularly those with severe COVID‑19. This reduction occurred in the whole image, parafoveal, and perifoveal VD (P = 0.002, P = 0.002, and P < 0.001, respectively). Concerning the superficial VD (SVD), only the superior hemisphere of the whole image density was statistically significantly reduced (P = 0.037). There was no statistically significant difference in foveal VD (both deep and superficial vessel) among the study groups (P = 0.148 and P = 0.322, respectively). Regarding the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), there was no statistically significant among groups (P = 0.548). Regarding the optic disc, the whole image VD and redial peripapillary capillary VD demonstrated a highly significant decrease, particularly in cases of severe COVID‑19. Conversely, inside disc VD showed a nonsignificant change among the study groups.

According to the findings of the current study, retinal microvasculature was affected in the 1st month following recovery from COVID‑19. DVD was significantly reduced more than SVD. In addition, peripapillary VD decreased, whereas the FAZ was unaffected.