Mirghorbani Masoud, Riazi-Esfahani Hamid, Bazvand Fatemeh, Bahar Mohammadreza Mehrabi, Yaseri Mehdi, Zarei Mohammad
Department of Retina, Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Curr Ophthalmol. 2023 Apr 29;34(4):442-447. doi: 10.4103/joco.joco_253_22. eCollection 2022 Oct-Dec.
To evaluate the epidemiologic pattern of intravitreal injections (IVIs) during Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The records of patients receiving IVIs in two 12-month periods immediately before and after the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic were included. Age, province of residency, indication, number of injections, and number of operating room (OR) visits were analyzed.
Compared to pre-COVID period, a 37.6% decrease in the number of patients receiving IVI in COVID period was seen (10518 vs. 6569). There was a parallel decrease in the number of OR visits (25590 vs. 15010: 41.4%) and injections (34508 vs. 19879: 42.4%). Regarding IVI indication, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) showed the highest decrease in IVI rate (46.3%) which was significantly higher than decrease in other indications ( < 0.001). Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) patients showed no change after epidemic. Mean overall age in AMD group was the highest (67.7 ± 13.2 years) compared to other indication groups (excluding ROP) ( < 0.001); while the mean age of the other indications was not significantly different from each other (excluding ROP).
COVID pandemic decreased the number of IVIs significantly. While previous studies suggested that the AMD patients had the highest risk of visual loss due to failure to receive IVIs in a timely manner, this very same group showed the highest decrease in the IVI number after pandemic. The health systems should devise strategies to protect this most vulnerable group of patients in future similar crises.
评估2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间玻璃体内注射（IVI）的流行病学模式。
纳入COVID-19疫情开始前后两个连续12个月期间接受IVI治疗的患者记录。分析患者的年龄、居住省份、注射指征、注射次数和手术室（OR）就诊次数。
与COVID-19疫情前相比，疫情期间接受IVI治疗的患者数量减少了37.6%（10518例对6569例）。手术室就诊次数（25590次对15010次：减少41.4%）和注射次数（34508次对19879次：减少42.4%）也呈平行下降。关于IVI指征，年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）的IVI率下降幅度最大（46.3%），显著高于其他指征的下降幅度（<0.001）。早产儿视网膜病变（ROP）患者在疫情后无变化。与其他指征组（不包括ROP）相比，AMD组的平均总体年龄最高（67.7±13.2岁）（<0.001）；而其他指征组的平均年龄彼此之间无显著差异（不包括ROP）。
COVID-19大流行显著减少了IVI的数量。虽然此前的研究表明，AMD患者因未能及时接受IVI而视力丧失的风险最高，但在大流行后，这一群体的IVI数量下降幅度最大。卫生系统应制定策略，以便在未来类似危机中保护这一最脆弱的患者群体。
