Ophthalmic assessment of an intensive care ward patients in the first and last wave of the COVID-19. Do they have a difference?

BACKGROUND: The new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) gained the pandemic status in 2020, and despite the fact that since then the virus has become less pathogenic, its virulence has increased by 2023. Well-vascularized organs and tissues, including the retina, represent the target for coronavirus. The etiopathogenesis of COVID-associated retinopathy, first described in 2021, still remains poorly understood, and its forms and occurrence frequency during different periods of the infectious process vary greatly. AIM: To identify the main characteristics of the COVID-associated retinopathy in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 course during the acute period of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study, conducted in 2021 (group 1) and 2023 (group 2), included patients with confirmed COVID-19 of moderate to severe course during the first 7 days from the onset of symptoms. Group 1 included 46 people, mean age 65.5 years, and group 2 included 55 people, mean age 69.3 years. The ophthalmologic examination was carried out in the “red zone” and intensive care unit, and included examination of the anterior segment of the eye, indirect ophthalmoscopy, and fundus photography using a portable hand-held digital fundus camera (Smartscope M5, Optomed, Finland). Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, volume of lung damage, invasive mechanical ventilation, and anticoagulant therapy were considered as conditions affecting retinal microcirculation. RESULTS: The observation groups were homogeneous in terms of gender, age, and concomitant diseases. The incidence of ophthalmoscopic findings in group 1 was 17.3%, and in group 2 — 12.7%. Most often, during the first 7 days of the disease, signs of angiopathy were observed: dilatation of blood vessels, irregularity of their diameter and tortuosity. Among focal changes, there were multiple retinal hemorrhages (6.5% and 3.6%) and cotton wool spots (4.3% and 5.4%). In patients with fundus changes, diabetes mellitus was significantly less common (in group 1, 25% vs. 39%, p 0.001; in group 2, 28% vs. 44%, p 0.001), as well as arterial hypertension (in group 1, 55% vs. 66%, p = 0.003; in group 2 28% vs. 83%, p 0.001). In group 1, there was a higher proportion of patients treated in intensive care unit, as in group 2 (37% vs. 17%, p 0.001), but in group 2, patients with identified retinal changes were more likely to receive therapeutic doses of anticoagulants (33% vs. 12%, p 0.001). CONCLUSION: The main characteristics of COVID-associated retinopathy in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 during the acute period of the disease are dilatation and pathological tortuosity of the retinal arteries and veins, intraretinal hemorrhages and cotton wool spots. The connection between COVID-associated retinopathy and concomitant to the infectious process cardiovascular conditions has not been established. Retinopathy associated with coronavirus infection, with absolute similarity of clinical manifestations, was significantly more common in 2021 than in 2023.