Long-term ocular complications in patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome: origins and potential biomarkers of disease

Here we investigate inflammation and disruption of sensory and autonomic nerve function as putative explanatory factors for post-COVID-19-syndrome (PC19S), with particular attention to the ocular complications reported in this syndrome.

We will perform ocular examinations in individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 from March - May 2020, a group we have identified in prior research.

We will compare PC19S patients with and without ocular complications, to those who recovered after hospitalization without developing PC19S.

We will utilize advanced imaging of inflammatory and autonomic nerve markers including the tear film quantity, quality and cytokine profile, corneal nerve structure and function, corneal dendritic cell density, pupillary reflex, dynamic accommodation response, and conjunctival vessel dilation and redness.

We are a team from ophthalmology, rehabilitation medicine and optometry, with time dedicated for project management and coordination, clinical study execution, and analysis and reporting, to be completed over a three-year period.In this project we will examine for the first time if PC19S can be explained by inflammatory and neurological changes that we have observed in the eye in preliminary examinations.

The project will not only allow us to better understand the origins of the severe eye symptoms present in PC19S to improve care of this growing group of patients, but could also reveal biomarkers for non-invasive screening and diagnosis of PC19S.