PRECIS: Vascular diseases have been linked to alterations in optic nerve head perfusion. PURPOSE: The main objective was to investigate the changes in peripapillary vessel density in post COVID-19 patients. METHODS: In this prospective pilot exploratory study, patients with COVID-19 that were attended in the Emergency Department (ED) of Hospital Clinico San Carlos (Madrid) were included. All patients underwent optic nerve head optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) using the Cirrus HD-OCT 500 with AngioPlex OCT-A (Zeiss, Dublin, CA, United States) 4 and 12 weeks after diagnosis by positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test from nasopharyngeal swab at ED. Socio-demographic data, medical history, disease severity and laboratory work-up were collected. RESULTS: 180 eyes of 90 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. None of the patients reported visual changes. Severe patients were older, more frequently hispanic, dyslipidemic and presented lower lymphocytes counts, as well as increased ferritin, D-dimer, fibrinogen and INR levels. No changes in optic nerve head vascularization were observed when both visits were compared. No correlation was found between vessel density and clinical parameters, disease severity and laboratory work-up. CONCLUSIONS: Changes to peripapillary vessel density were not observed in patients with COVID-19 in the early months following diagnosis.
PRECIS: Vascular diseases have been linked to alterations in optic nerve head perfusion. PURPOSE: The main objective was to investigate the changes in peripapillary vessel density in post COVID-19patients. METHODS: In this prospective pilot exploratory study, patients with COVID-19 that were attended in the Emergency Department (ED) of Hospital Clinico San Carlos (Madrid) were included. All patients underwent optic nerve head optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) using the Cirrus HD-OCT 500 with AngioPlex OCT-A (Zeiss, Dublin, CA, United States) 4 and 12 weeks after diagnosis by positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test from nasopharyngeal swab at ED. Socio-demographic data, medical history, disease severity and laboratory work-up were collected. RESULTS: 180 eyes of 90 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. None of the patients reported visual changes. Severe patients were older, more frequently hispanic, dyslipidemic and presented lower lymphocytes counts, as well as increased ferritin, D-dimer, fibrinogen and INR levels. No changes in optic nerve head vascularization were observed when both visits were compared. No correlation was found between vessel density and clinical parameters, disease severity and laboratory work-up. CONCLUSIONS: Changes to peripapillary vessel density were not observed in patients with COVID-19 in the early months following diagnosis.