Abstract
Purpose :
To report the concurrence of acute primary angle closure (APAC) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recurrence during the lift of the COVID-19 restriction policy.
Methods :
An observational, retrospective, multi-center study. Consecutive patients seeking APAC treatment at two eye centers in China from December 7, 2022 to January 13, 2023 (RECURRENCE period) and from the same period in the previous year (CONTROL period) were collected. Electronic medical records were reviewed. Ocular data of the affected eye were analyzed for patients with unilateral APAC and both eyes in cases of bilateral APAC.
Results :
A total of 189 (219 APAC eyes) and 51 patients with APAC (54 APAC eyes) were identified during the RECURRENCE and CONTROL periods, respectively. The patients identified during the RECURRENCE period tended to be younger (P=0.043), with longer time from symptoms to treatment (P=0.039), had shorter axial length (P=0.002), larger pupil diameter (P=0.004), larger vertical cup disc ratio (P=0.004), worse mean deviation values (P=0.003), and more glaucomatous optic neuropathy diagnoses (P=0.032) in comparison with the APAC patients identified during the CONTROL period.
Conclusions :
Number of APAC patients significantly increased and concurred with the COVID-19 pandemic during the RECURRENCE period. The association between APAC and COVID-19 recurrence that might be mediated by COVID symptoms such as coughing and vomiting, and behavioral and psychological changes concurrent with COVID-19 infection requires further investigation.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.