COVID-19 PATIENTS CLINICAL EXPERIENCE WITH OCULAR INVOLVMENT
Keywords:
COVID 19, conjunctival swabs, rt PCR, Sars CoV 2, clinical courseAbstract
In 2021, University Hospital Lozenetz Sofia is designated as a center for treatment of coronavirus infection patients with of national importance. Purpose: We tested conjunctival swabs of 50 people in addition to the standard nasopharyngeal swabs by the rt PCR method. They were all admitted for treatment in the department for conventional uncomplicated COVID 19 infection. The aim was to find possible relation between coronavirus infection climatical course and Sars CoV 2 RNA presence in the anterior eye segment secretions. Materials and methods: A qualified ophthalmologist registered the subjective ocular complaints of the patients. Some objective findings in the anterior eye segment such as hyperemia, chemosis, epiphora and pathological secretion were also recorded. Sars CoV 2 swab samples were taken by the same specialist from the inferior conjunctival fornix consequently as those from the nasopharynx. They were examined simultaneously in the hospital’s laboratory of virology and immunology following approved protocol according to the specifics of the virus. Some features of their treatment applied and medical condition details were studied and analyzed, including oxygen saturation, body temperature, pulmonary involvement, duration of hospitalization, etc. Results and discussion: The presence of Sars
CoV 2 in ocular secretions was established in 12% of patients tested. Some relations were found between the positive PCR conjunctival test and the clinical condition. Conclusion: Further research needs to be done to establish whether there are specific interconnections between the ophthalmic finding, the prognosis and the course of the coronavirus disease.
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