PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Severe acute respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2: Can it be detected in the retina?

  • Tarek Bayyoud,
  • Angelika Iftner,
  • Thomas Iftner,
  • Karl Ulrich Bartz-Schmidt,
  • Focke Ziemssen,
  • Hans Bösmüller,
  • Falko Fend,
  • Jens Martin Rohrbach,
  • Marius Ueffing,
  • Michael Schindler,
  • Sebastian Thaler

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251682
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 5
p. e0251682

Abstract

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Background/objectivesThe systemic organ involvement of SARS-CoV-2 needs to be thoroughly investigated including the possibility of an ocular reservoir in humans. To examine retinal tissues and vitreous for histopathology and SARS-CoV-2 presence with regard to possible effects on the human retina and/ or vitreous. We performed histopathological analyses and quantitative (q)RT-PCR-testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA on retinal tissues and vitreous of COVID-19 postmortem donors.Subjects/methodsIncluded in this study were 10 eyes of 5 deceased COVID-19 patients. The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed via pharyngeal swabs and broncho-alveolar fluids. The highest level of personal protective equipment (PPE) and measures was employed during fluid-tissue procurement and preparation. Histopathological examinations and qRT-PCR-testing were carried out for all retinal tissues and vitreous fluids.ResultsThe histopathological examinations revealed no signs of morphologically identifiable retinal inflammation or vessel occlusions based on hematoxylin and eosin stains. By qRT-PCRs, we detected no significant level of viral RNA in human retina and vitreous.ConclusionsIn this study, no significant level of SARS-CoV-2-RNA was detected in the human retinal and vitreous fluid samples of deceased COVID-19 patients. Histopathological examinations confirmed no morphological sign of damage to retinal vasculature or tissues. Further studies are needed to confirm or refute the results.