COVID-19 News: Various New Case Reports Show That SAR-CoV-2 Is Causing Lots Of New Eye And Vision Issues Especially In Post COVID Phases!
COVID-19 News - Eye And Visions Issues - Nikhil P & Kittisak M Feb 03, 2023 1 year, 10 months, 2 days, 10 hours, 16 minutes ago
COVID-19 News: Over the last few days, lot of new cases reports have appeared in various peer reviewed medical journals showing the SARS-CoV-2 infections are causing a variety of eye and vision issues especially in the Post COVID phases!
In this
COVID-19 News coverage, we highlight the most recent ones and the issues that seem to be manifesting more in the infected and also in those after so called COVID-19 ‘recovery’.
SARS-Cov-2 Virus-Induced Bilateral Acute Iris Transillumination Syndrome (BAIT)
Bilateral acute iris transillumination (BAIT) is a recently defined disease characterized with bilateral acute, severe pigment dispersion of iris and pupil sphincter paralysis.
The clinical signs are dominated by strong photophobia, secondary to a spectacular transillumination of the iris. Other classical symptoms are conjunctival infection, eye pain, blurred vision, temporary ocular hypertonia, fixed mid-dilated pupils, and pigment dispersion in the anterior chamber with pigmentary deposits in the trabecular meshwork in gonioscopy, symptoms that may be mistaken for uveitis. After a few weeks or months of evolution, persistent sequelae were pupillary atony and chronic and bilateral transillumination of the iris, leading to significant photophobia and sometimes persistent ocular hypertension.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4908095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6556534/
Turkish physicians from the Yenibosna Safa Hospital at İstanbul published case reports detailing three patients with the conditions as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology a day ago.
https://journals.lww.com/ijo/Fulltext/2023/02000/SARS_CoV_2_virus_induced_bilateral_acute_iris.73.aspx
However there has been many other cases reports detailing the manifestation of bilateral acute iris transillumination (BAIT) in other manys infected with COVID-19 or in Post COVID phase.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/11206721221113428
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09273948.2021.1933073
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09273948.2022.2103832
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08820538.2023.2168491
Blepharospasm
Blepharospasm (also called benign essential blepharospasm) is blink
ing or other eyelid movements, like twitching, that you can't control. Eyelid twitching usually goes away on its own. However, individuals with benign essential blepharospasm can develop severe and chronic (long-term) eyelid twitching.
https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/blepharospasm
It is any abnormal contraction of the orbicularis oculi muscle. The condition should be distinguished from the more common, and milder, involuntary quivering of an eyelid, known as myokymia, or fasciculation.
Ophthalmologists and medical researchers from University of Cagliari -Italy and University Hospital of Parma-Italy reported three cases of blepharospasms in patients who had earlier developed symptomatic COVID-19 infection.
https://journals.lww.com/ijo/Fulltext/2023/02000/Blepharospasm_as_a_tardive_manifestation_of.76.aspx
Again, there has been many other documented cases reports showing COVID-19 and Long COVID patients developing blepharospasm.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030384672200244X
Central Retinal Artery Occlusion (CRAO)
Central retinal artery occlusion is the blockage of blood to the retina of one eye. It usually causes sudden loss of eyesight in one eye.
One is at a higher risk if one is older or has high blood pressure, glaucoma, or diabetes. Individuals are also at higher risk if their blood is thicker and stickier than normal.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470354/
Brazilian researchers from Altino Ventura Foundation-Brazil, Villa Saúde Health Center-Brazil and the HOPE Eye Hospital-Brazil reported a case study of a 68-year-old female patient with unilateral central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) with cilioretinal artery sparing post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.
https://journals.lww.com/ijo/Fulltext/2023/02000/Central_retinal_artery_occlusion_with_cilioretinal.74.aspx
There have also been other documented cases of central retinal artery occlusion in other individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infections.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8597528/
https://casereports.bmj.com/content/14/7/e244181
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1120672121995347
https://journalretinavitreous.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40942-022-00371-7
https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.2021210479
https://eyewiki.aao.org/Retinal_Manifestations_of_Covid_19
https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/pt/covidwho-1644115
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-and-eyes-doctors-report-case-of-retinal-vein-occlusion-due-to-covid-19-in-patient-more-cases-of-eyes-being-attacked-by-sars-cov-2-emerging
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/californian-study-shows-that-post-covid-individuals-are-at-a-risk-of-developing-retinal-vascular-occlusions-or-eye-strokes
These are newer ocular manifestations seen in COVID-19 and Long COVID and add to the list of other the ocular manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 as reported previously by various authors including conjunctival hyperaemia, chemosis, follicular conjunctivitis, epiphora, watery discharge, eyelid oedema, and enlarged preauricular and submaxillary lymph nodes.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28367520/
These are besides the earlier ocular conditions seen during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic such as pink eye syndrome, inflammation or infection of the conjunctiva is known as conjunctivitis and also other dry eye conditions.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/must-read-covid-19-clinical-care-one-third-of-covid-19-patients-exhibit-ocular-eye-abnormalities
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-symptoms-more-covid-19-patients-manifesting-eye-problems
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-ophthalmology-university-of-alberta-researchers-identify-pink-eye-as-yet-another-possible-primary-symptom-of-covid-19
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/eye-problems-covid-19-study-shows-that-almost-23-percent-of-children-hospitalized-for-covid-19-developed-ocular-symptom
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/news-covid-19-study-warns-that-ocular-inflammation-present-in-many-recovered-non-hospitalized-covid-19-patients
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-latest-warnings-of-more-cases-of-covid-19-related-eye-infections-emerging
It is highly recommended that post COVID individuals keep on doing regular eye health screenings with their ophthalmologists and also to maintain proper precautions to avoid getting reinfected.
For the latest
COVID-19 News, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.
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https://brieflands.com/articles/apid-117176.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556093/
https://www.elsevier.es/en-revista-archivos-sociedad-espanola-oftalmologia-english-496-articulo-ocular-manifestations-sars-cov-2-literature-review-S2173579420302024
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-symptoms-new-documented-case-shows-that-sars-cov-2-can-cause-cranial-nerve-palsy-with-resulting-double-eye-vision-diplopia
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-german-study-shows-sars-cov-2-can-infect-and-replicate-in-retinal-cells-with-implications-of-eye-issues-for-long-covid
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/french-study-reveals-that-covid-19-causes-potentially-dangerous-eye-abnormalities-such-as-the-formation-of-nodules-in-the-macular-region