Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep;258(9):1959-1963.
doi: 10.1007/s00417-020-04777-7. Epub 2020 Jun 6.

Ocular manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019

Basak Bostanci Ceran  1 , Serdar Ozates  2
Affiliations

Ocular manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019

Basak Bostanci Ceran et al. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing global public health problem, and most of the COVID-19 research is focused mainly on the respiratory system because of life-threatening results. However, manifestations in other organs should not be ignored since they can also be a mode of transmission. We sought to describe the ocular manifestations of COVID-19 and investigate the association between ocular involvement and clinical presentation and laboratory outcomes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020. Ninety-three sequentially hospitalized and clinically confirmed COVID-19 patients were included in the study. The systemic and ocular symptoms, clinical findings, and laboratory outcomes were recorded.

Results: Of the 93 COVID-19 patients, 54 (58.1%) were male, and 39 (41.9%) were female. Mean age of the patients was 39.4 ± 21.9 (min 7, max 88) years. Twenty patients (n 21.5%) had at least one ocular abnormality. Most common findings included hyperemia (n = 20), epiphora (n = 9), increased secretion (n = 6), chemosis (n = 3), follicular conjunctivitis (n = 2), and episcleritis (n = 2). The most common symptom was photophobia (n 15). Patients with ocular involvement were more likely to have higher neutrophil counts (p = 0.001), and increased CRP (p < 0.001), PCT (p = 0.001), and ESR levels (p < 0.001). Mean lymphocyte count was statistically lower in patients with ocular manifestations (p = 0.001). Mean age and number of patients with fever over 37.3 °C in the ocular involvement group was found to be higher (p < 0.001, p = 0.006, respectively).

Conclusion: Older age, high fever, increased neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, and high levels of acute phase reactants seemed to be risk factors for ocular involvement.

Keywords: Acute phase reactants; COVID-19; Conjunctivitis; Episcleritis; Eye; Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Comment in

References

    1. Wang C, Horby PW, Hayden FG, Gao GF. A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):470–473. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30185-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Callaway E, Cyranoski D New China virus: five questions scientists are asking. Nature - PubMed
    1. Organization WH (2020) Infection prevention and control during health care when novel coronavirus ( nCoV) infection is suspected: interim guidance, January 2020. World Health Organization
    1. Corman VM, Muth D, Niemeyer D, Drosten C. Hosts and sources of endemic human coronaviruses. Adv Virus Res. 2018;100:163–188. doi: 10.1016/bs.aivir.2018.01.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Loon S, Teoh S, Oon L, Se-Thoe S, Ling A, Leo Y, Leong H. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus in tears. Br J Ophthalmol. 2004;88(7):861–863. doi: 10.1136/bjo.2003.035931. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms