Background: The possible transmission of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by tears and conjunctiva is still debated. Methods: Main outcome was to investigate the agreement between nasopharyngeal swab (NPs) and conjunctival swabs (Cs) in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We divided patients into four groups: (1) NPs and Cs both negative (C−NF−), (2) NPs positive and Cs negative (NFs+Cs−), (3) NPs negative and Cs positive (NFs−Cs+), and (4) NPs and Cs both positive (NFs−Cs+). The secondary outcomes were to correlate Cs results with systemic clinical parameters such as: oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ), dyspnea degree (DP), radiologic pulmonary impairment based on chest radiography (XR) or computed tomography (CT), blood chemistry as D-Dimer (D-Dimer), fibrinogen, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and C-reactive protein (C-RP). Results: A total of 100 conjunctival swabs in 50 patients with SARS-CoV-2 have been enrolled in this interventional clinical trials. Ocular signs (conjunctivitis) were present in five patients (10%). NPs and Cs highlighted a poor level of agreement (0.025; p = 0.404). Median SpO 2 levels are the highest in the NF−C− group (98%) and the lowest (90%) in the group NF+C+ ( p = 0.001). Pulmonary impairment was statistically significantly different between NFs and Cs groups ( p = 0.019). Pulmonary impairment score increased from NFs−Cs− group (3.8 ± 3.9), to NFs+Cs+ group (6.7 ± 4.1). Intensive care unit patients showed higher COVID-19 Cs positivity in conjunctiva (12.5%) against hospitalized ones (5.8%). Conclusions: In patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 the virus can be detected in conjunctival swab. Intensive care unit patients may reveal a higher COVID-19 presence in the conjunctiva. The most severe pulmonary impairment can be observed in NFs and Cs positivity. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov registration. Ethical committee authorization: ID number: 0013008/20
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Eye infection, Personalized medicine, Conjunctival swab, ophthalmologists, precautionary measures, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus, Hospitalized, SARS-COV-2 infection, Infection, LDH, clinical trials, C-reactive protein, D-dimer, ferritin, oxygen, Transmission, outcome, virus, pulmonary, lactate dehydrogenase, Computed tomography, Nasopharyngeal swab, oxygen saturation, Dyspnea, swabs, Patient, fibrinogen, Conjunctiva, Swab, respiratory, blood chemistry, group, Care, conjunctivitis, Chest radiography, Lactate, Trial registration, Secondary outcomes, severe acute respiratory coronavirus, secondary outcome, four groups, impairment, positive, clinical parameter, conjunctival swabs, conjunctival, tears, C-RP, NPs, pulmonary impairment, FIVE, Respiratory Coronavirus, lowest, enrolled, highest, radiologic, significantly, statistically, patients hospitalized, patients with SARS-CoV-2, severe pulmonary impairment, 【제목키워드】 COVID, group, conjunctival, Italian, Against,