Objective: To detect retinal involvement in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in acute and convalescent phase by their fundus screening. Methods: In a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study (July–November 2020), 235 patients (142 acute and 93 convalescent phase) underwent fundus screening in a tertiary care center in North India. For convalescent phase, “hospitalized” patients (73) were screened at least 2 weeks after hospital discharge, and “home-isolated” patients (20) were screened 17 days after symptom onset/COVID-19 testing. Results: None in acute phase showed any retinal lesion that could be attributed exclusively to COVID-19. Five patients (5.38%) in convalescent phase had cotton wool spots (CWSs) with/without retinal hemorrhage, with no other retinal finding, and no visual symptoms, seen at a median of 30 days from COVID-19 diagnosis. Conclusions: CWSs (and retinal hemorrhages) were an incidental finding in COVID-19, detected only in the convalescent phase. These patients were much older (median age = 69 years) than the average age of our sample and had systemic comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, etc.). We propose the term “COVID-19 retinopathy” to denote the presence of CWSs at the posterior pole, occasionally associated with intraretinal hemorrhages, in the absence of ocular inflammation in patients with a history of COVID-19 disease.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, Screening, Retina, convalescent, Acute, cotton wool spots, retinopathy, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, Inflammation, cross-sectional, India, Diabetes Mellitus, Comorbidity, Symptom, hypertension, Symptoms, COVID-19 disease, Patient, COVID-19 diagnosis, age, Care, hemorrhage, Older, acute phase, convalescent phase, median age, average, hospital discharge, North, hemorrhages, ocular, detect, screened, median, absence, “COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 Prospective, Program, phase, Result, Involvement, Retinal,