Int J Environ Res Public Health . Ocular Involvement of SARS-CoV-2 in a Polish Cohort of COVID-19-Positive Patients

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Int J Environ Res Public Health


. 2021 Mar 12;18(6):2916.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18062916.
Ocular Involvement of SARS-CoV-2 in a Polish Cohort of COVID-19-Positive Patients


Joanna Dolar-Szczasny ¹ , Mario D Toro ^{1 2} , Anna Dworza?ska ³ , Tomasz W?jtowicz ⁴ , Izabela Korona-Glowniak ⁵ , Rafa? Sawicki ⁶ , Anastazja Boguszewska ⁷ , Ma?gorzata Polz-Dacewicz ⁷ , Krzysztof Tomasiewicz ³ , Wojciech Za?uska ⁸ , Robert Rejdak ¹ , Paola Bagnoli ⁹ , Dario Rusciano ¹⁰



Affiliations

• PMID: 33809199
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18062916

Abstract

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the current human COVID-19 pandemic has shown tropism toward different organs with variable efficiency, eyes included. The purpose of this study has been to investigate the presence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 infection in ocular swabs in patients affected by COVID-19. A consecutive series of 74 COVID-19-positive patients (age 21-89) were enrolled at two Polish COVID-19 hospitals for 4 months and were characterized by PCR for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in nasopharyngeal (NP) and ocular swabs, while their respiratory and ocular symptoms were noted. Almost 50% of them presented with severe/critical respiratory involvement, and some degree of eye disease. No tight correlation was observed between the presence of ocular and respiratory symptoms. Three male patients presenting with severe/critical lung disease tested positive in ocular swab, however with mild/moderate ocular symptoms. In conclusion, our study lends further support to the view that overt ocular infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not such a frequent occurrence.

Keywords: COVID-19; PCR; SARS-CoV-2; eye; lung.