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Banderas García S, Aragón D, Azarfane B, et al. Persistent reduction of retinal microvascular vessel density in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 disease. BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2022;7(1):e000867doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000867.
Banderas García, S., Aragón, D., Azarfane, B., Trejo, F., Garrell-Salat, X., Sánchez-Montalvá, A., Otero-Romero, S., Garcia-Arumi, J., & Zapata, M. A. (2022). Persistent reduction of retinal microvascular vessel density in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 disease. BMJ open ophthalmology, 7(1), e000867. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000867
Banderas García, Sandra, et al. "Persistent reduction of retinal microvascular vessel density in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 disease." BMJ open ophthalmology vol. 7,1 (2022): e000867. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000867
Banderas García S, Aragón D, Azarfane B, Trejo F, Garrell-Salat X, Sánchez-Montalvá A, Otero-Romero S, Garcia-Arumi J, Zapata MA. Persistent reduction of retinal microvascular vessel density in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 disease. BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2022 Jan 11;7(1):e000867. doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000867. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35039796; PMCID: PMC8753095.
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BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2022 Jan 11;7(1):e000867. doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000867. eCollection 2022.

Persistent reduction of retinal microvascular vessel density in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 disease.

BMJ open ophthalmology

Sandra Banderas García, David Aragón, Brahim Azarfane, Fernando Trejo, Xavier Garrell-Salat, Adrián Sánchez-Montalvá, Susana Otero-Romero, Jose Garcia-Arumi, Miguel Angel Zapata

Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
  2. Infectious Diseases Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
  3. Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
  4. IMO, Institute of Ocular Microsurgery, Barcelona, Spain.

PMID: 35039796 PMCID: PMC8753095 DOI: 10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000867

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyse the possible recovery or worsening in retinal microvasculature after 8 months in a previously studied COVID-19 cohort.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A cross-sectional case-control study and a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Participants were the subjects of our previous study who re-enrolled for a new examination including a fundus photograph (retinography), an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan and an OCT angiography. COVID-19 diagnosed patients were divided into three groups: group 1: mild disease, asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic subjects who received outpatient care; group 2: moderate disease and group 3: severe disease, both of which required hospital admission because of pneumonia. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software (V.23.0). Cross-sectional intergroup differences were analysed by means of analysis of variance for normally distributed variables and the Kruskal-Wallis test for non-normally distributed ones. In reference to the prospective part of the study (intragroup differences, baseline with 8-month comparison), a paired t-test was used for normally distributed data and Wilcoxon signed ranks sum for non-normally distributed data.

RESULTS: The fovea-centered superficial and deep vascular densities were significantly diminished in severe cases compared with mild cases (p=0.004; p=0.003, respectively, for superficial and deep) and to controls (p=0.014; p=0.010), also in moderate cases to mild group (p=0.004; p=0.003) and to controls (p=0.012; p=0.024). In the longitudinal study, no significant statistical differences were found between baseline and 8-month follow-up vessel density values.

CONCLUSION: We demonstrated persistent reduction in the central vascular area over time in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19.

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Keywords: COVID-19; imaging; macula; retina

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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