Characteristics of Ocular Findings of Patients with Coronavirus Disease

Marco Antônio Orsini Neves, Nicolle dos Santos Moraes Nunes, Thais de Rezende Bessa Guerra, Jacqueline Stephanie Fernandes do Nascimento, Janie Kelly Fernandes do Nascimento, Renata Rodrigues Teixeira Castro, Antonio Marcos da Silva Catharino, Thiago Gonçalves, Adalgiza Mafra Moreno

COVID-19; Ophthalmology; Conjunctivitis; Ocular manifestations; Retinopathy.

The outbreak of COVID-19 spread rapidly to several countries, leading the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic situation. The correlation of this pathology with ocular structures has been discussed as a possible gateway to SARS-CoV-2. Given the urgency of information related to the control of COVID-19, this article aims to evaluate and expose the main ophthalmological manifestations resulting from viral infection by COVID-19. Methodology: This article proposes a review study regarding the current pandemic scenario. To this end, a search was carried out in the primary databases: LILACS, BIREME, PubMed in Portuguese and English, for articles based on current literature. The choice had taken place at random, obviously, following a line of reasoning of the authors involved. Discussion: A sequence of cases demonstrated the presence of SARS-CoV in the tear film by polymerase chain reaction with reverse transcription (RT-PCR). Considering that SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are part of the same family of coronaviruses, and share genetic similarities, it is plausible that the same is observed in COVID-19. During COVID-19 infection, conjunctiva inflammation is the most frequent ophthalmologic manifestation. The most commonly reported ocular manifestations so far are conjunctival hyperemia and watery discharge. Conclusion: Although there is still no well-established evidence, recent studies suggest that tears may be direct sources of ocular transmission of COVID-19. Also, reports of ocular manifestations in patients infected with SARS-COV-2 are very scarce, making further research related to the frequency of these events necessary.

Received: 20 Oct 2020; Received in revised form: 10 Nov 2020; Accepted: 19 Nov 2020; Available online: 21 Dec 2020

10.22161/ijaers.712.22