Ślizień Mateusz, Sulecka Paulina, Tylicki Leszek, Janicka Zofia, Konopa Joanna, Ślizień Zuzanna, Dębska-Ślizień Alicja, Michalska-Małecka Katarzyna, Biedunkiewicz Bogdan
Ophthalmology Clinic, Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-210 Gdańsk, Poland.
Department of Nephrology, Transplantology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland.
Life (Basel). 2023 Sep 30;13(10):2003. doi: 10.3390/life13102003.
Patients after organ transplantation with COVID-19 have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality than patients in the general population. There are single studies that assess the eyes of COVID-19 patients, but there are no such studies on organ transplant recipients. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine the eyes of kidney transplant recipients (KTR) after recovery from mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection.
A total of 40 KTR after COVID-19 and 20 KTR without clinical and immunological symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection as a control group was qualified for the cross-sectional study. A total of 76 eyes from 38 KTR on an average of 7 weeks after COVID-19 and 36 eyes from 18 KTR from the control group were studied. The participants underwent an ophthalmological examination, and the retinal and choroid vessels and nerves were assessed by optical coherence tomography angiography.
We found a lower vessel density (VD) in the deep capillary plexus in the central part of the retina (VD deep central) of the study group. Women had significantly lower VD deep central in the study group (15.51 vs. 18.91, < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis confirmed an independent, negative impact of COVID-19 ( < 0.001) and female gender ( = 0.001) on VD deep central.
The results of our study confirmed that changes in microcirculation induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection may affect the retinal vessels in KTR. Mild to moderate COVID-19 in KTR resulted in a significant reduction in VD deep central of the retina, with these changes being more common in females.
器官移植后感染新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）的患者比普通人群有更高的发病和死亡风险。有单项研究评估了COVID-19患者的眼部情况，但尚无针对器官移植受者的此类研究。本研究的目的是全面检查轻度至中度严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染康复后的肾移植受者（KTR）的眼部情况。
共有40例感染COVID-19后的KTR和20例无SARS-CoV-2感染临床及免疫症状的KTR作为对照组纳入横断面研究。共研究了38例感染COVID-19后平均7周的KTR的76只眼和对照组18例KTR的36只眼。参与者接受了眼科检查，并通过光学相干断层扫描血管造影评估视网膜和脉络膜血管及神经。
我们发现研究组视网膜中央部分深层毛细血管丛中的血管密度（VD）较低。研究组中女性的视网膜中央深层VD显著较低（15.51对18.91，<0.001）。多变量线性回归分析证实COVID-19（<0.001）和女性性别（=0.001）对视网膜中央深层VD有独立的负面影响。
我们的研究结果证实，SARS-CoV-2感染引起的微循环变化可能影响KTR的视网膜血管。KTR中轻度至中度的COVID-19导致视网膜中央深层VD显著降低，这些变化在女性中更常见。
