Health Promotion for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention in Moldova

## **Retinal Manifestations in Patients with COVID-19: A Prospective Cohort Study**

**Eleonora Riotto1, Vladimir Mégevand2, Alexis Mégevand1, Christophe Marti3, Jerome Pugin4 , Alexis Stangos5, Leonardo Marconi Archinto6, and Gordana Sunaric Mégevand5**

<sup>1</sup> University Hospital Geneva, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland


The recent outbreak of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has been declared a worldwide pandemic. Within various multi-organ involvement, several ocular manifestations have been described, such as conjunctivitis and retinopathy. The prevalence and severity of retinal lesions and their relation to the severity of systemic disease are unknown. We performed a prospective, observational study on 172 consecutively hospitalized patients with acute confirmed COVID–19 infection. All patients underwent screening fundus-wide field photography at the time of hospital admission. Despite no ocular or vision-related symptoms, we found cotton wool spots (CWS) in 19/172 patients (11%). Diabetes history, overweight, and elevated C-reactive protein were more frequently observed among patients with retinal abnormalities, while a history of systemic hypertension was more frequently observed among patients without retinal findings. At the threemonth follow-up visit, CWS had subsided in all patients.

Eleonora Riotto1, Vladimir Mégevand2, Alexis Mégevand1, Christophe Marti3, Jerome Pugin4, Alexis Stangos5, Leonardo Marconi Archinto6, and Gordana Sunaric Mégevand5

1University Hospital Geneva, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland


<sup>6</sup> Geneva University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Geneva, Switzerland

Acknowledgments: We want to thank the Intermediate Care Unit team of the Geneva University Hospitals for their help during the recruitment process.


#### Methods

The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic screening for retinal alterations among consecutive patients hospitalized for an acute COVID-19 infection requiring supplementation with the presence of retinal abnormalities and to study the longitudinal evolution of the identified lesions.

#### Purpose



#### Conclusion

Considering that retinal vasculature can be directly evaluated via fundus examination, the visualization of such lesions could represent signs of vascular involvement in other organs besides the eye. Thus, the abovementioned comorbidities could be a severe risk factor, not only for the retinal vasculature, but also for the brain and other organs' vasculature.
