Abstract
Purpose :
To retrospectively analyze the prevalence rates of retinal pathologies that were identified and treated following COVID-19 infection.
Methods :
A retrospective cohort study was performed at a private retinal practice in Ohio. The Institutional Review Board (Sterling) determined this study consisted of non-human subjects. All data was collected through the practice management of Retina Associates of Cleveland, Inc. Data was collected from patients who were identified by physicians as developing inflammatory disease briefly after COVID-19 infection from January 2022 through December 2022 and includes: patient number, eye affected, the interval between COVID-19 exposure and onset of ocular disease, visual acuity, and primary diagnoses.
Results :
From January 1st, 2022 through December 27th, 2022, 41,454 unique patients were seen. Of the 41,454 patients, 3 developed a retinal pathology shortly after being infected with COVID-19. The prevalence of COVID-19 related retinal pathology was 0.0072%. Of the 3 patients, one developed a case of neuroretinitis, one developed peripapillary choroiditis, and one developed acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) peripapillary. The average time between COVID-19 diagnosis and initial retinal office visit was 11 days. The average initial intraocular pressure (IOP) was 14.67 and the average final IOP was 14.5. The average logMAR initial and final visual acuities were 0.65 and 0.075.
Conclusions :
The study results show a total prevalence rate of 0.0072% for COVID-19 associated complications of unique patient visits over 12 months in a large retinal practice. The two retinal pathologies were neuroretinitis and peripapillary choroiditis.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.