Postmortem Ultrastructural Analysis of the Retina from COVID-19 Deceased Patients

Abstract

Purpose: COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, first reported in 2019 in Wuhan, China. Among the common complications is a pro-inflammatory and hypercoagulative response that compromises the vasculature among various organs.

Methods: In this report, we present the postmortem retinal findings of five patients observed by means of optical microscopy and transmission and scanning electron microscopy techniques.

Results: Clinical manifestations such as retinal hemorrhages and exacerbated inflammatory infiltrate, altered ultra structure with swollen mitochondria and pyknotic cells in both layers of the retina were observed in all analyzed eyes.

Conclusion: Our data point to the fragility of this tissue in cases of severe COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID; Coronavirus disease; eye; retina; vascular disease.