Prospective Study: Frequency of Ophthalmic Findings, Relationship with Inflammation Markers, and Effect on Prognosis in Patients Treated in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit.

OBJECTIVES

To prospectively evaluate the frequency of ocular findings and inflammation markers levels in patients treated in the intensive care unit due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection to determine the relationship between these parameters and mortality.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We prospectively evaluated 53 patients who were treated in the intensive care unit of a pandemic hospital between January 1 and June 30, 2021 and whose SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test from nasopharyngeal swab samples. Ocular findings were evaluated together with white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte count, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase and ferritin levels, and mortality rate.

RESULTS

There was no statistically significant correlation between lactate dehydrogenase, white blood cell, neutrophil, and lymphocyte count elevation and the frequency of inflammatory eye signs (p=0.308, p=0.694, p=0.535, p=0.374). In multivariate analyses, no statistically significant correlation was observed between ferritin level and the frequency of inflammatory eye findings (p=0.087). In addition, for each 1 mg/dL increase in C-reactive protein level, the detection of inflammatory eye findings decreased by 1.9% (95% confidence interval: 3.3%-0.4%; p=0.015). It was determined that 7 of 13 patients with inflammatory eye findings died and this was not statistically significant (p=0.810).

CONCLUSION

Inflammatory examination findings of the ocular surface were detected in 13 (24.5%) of 53 patients treated in the intensive care unit for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Ocular surface examination of patients treated in the intensive care unit due to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic is important.