Ocular manifestations of COVID-19 infection: A review of available information

Abstract

Ocular signs and symptoms have been reported in COVID-19 patients, and there is increasing recognition of conjunctivitis as a prodromal symptom of this disease. There is also a surge of information about corneal, uveal, retinal, and neuroophthalmological involvement in COVID-19 infection. This review attempts to determine from various researches published during the time of the pandemic, the various ocular presentations of COVID-19 infection, its significance, correlation to the severity of systemic disease, and its importance as a mode of transmission of the disease. An extensive search strategy was employed to retrieve articles of ocular manifestations of COVID-19 published from January 2020 to date. Conjunctivitis was found to be the most common ocular manifestation, and viral RNA was noted in conjunctiva and tears, posing a risk for ophthalmologists. Other less commonly seen findings in COVID-19 infections include keratoconjunctivitis, blepharitis, retinal changes, and ophthalmoparesis. However, recent studies show increasing reports of retinal and neuroophthalmological manifestations of the COVID-19 infection.

Keywords

• conjunctivitis
• covid-19
• novel coronavirus
• ocular
• ophthalmic
• severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2