Diagnostics (Mar 2023)

Analysis of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) Parameters in Young Adults after SARS-CoV-2 Infection (COVID-19) Compared with Healthy Young Controls

  • Anahita Bajka,
  • Daniel Rudolf Muth,
  • Maximilian Robert Justus Wiest,
  • Sadiq Said,
  • Magdalena Rejdak,
  • Sophia Sidhu,
  • Nastasia Foa,
  • Frank Blaser,
  • Daniel Barthelmes,
  • Mario Damiano Toro,
  • Eric H. Souied,
  • Jeremy Werner Deuel,
  • Patricia Schlagenhauf,
  • Sandrine Anne Zweifel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13071283
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 7
p. 1283

Abstract

Read online

Purpose: To compare retinal changes in young adults with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection with healthy young controls using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: This prospective single-center study was conducted at the University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Participants were imaged from May to November 2021 using the SOLIX device (Visionix International SAS, Pont-de-l’Arche, France). We performed 12 mm × 12 mm, 6.4 mm × 6.4 mm, 6 mm × 6 mm and 3 mm × 3 mm OCT and OCTA scans, as well as fundus photography of each participant’s eyes. Results: In total, 466 participants were imaged. Of these, 233 were healthy controls with negative RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2, 168 were young adults who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection at least 180 days previously, 19 were participants who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection p values (p = 0.02–0.03). Thus, we did not interpret these as clinically significant, leading to the conclusion that young and otherwise healthy individuals (mainly men) seem to recover from mild COVID-19 infections with no ophthalmological residues.

Keywords