RESEARCH ARTICLE


Ocular Findings and Blurring of Vision Associated with COVID-19 Virus during Pandemics in Iraq



Zainab Adel Hashim1, *, Suzan Kahatan M. Salih2, Marwan Younis Abdulla3
1 Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine Al-Qadisiyah University, Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq
2 Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine/ Al Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq
3 Specialized Ophthalmologist/ Al-Noaman Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq


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Creative Commons License
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine Al-Qadisiyah University, Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq; E-mail: zainb.hashim@qu.edu.iq


Abstract

Background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged with a number of ophthalmologic manifestations. The most significant ocular symptoms included conjunctival discharge, redness, tears, itching, and a feeling of a foreign body in the eye.

Aim

To review and critically appraise ophthalmologic manifestations of COVID-19 in the form of rate and severity of visual impairment following ocular and systemic COVID-19 infections.

Methods

A cross-sectional study that was carried out at the outpatients’ clinic in Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital from October 2020 to October 2022 were 135 patients seeking advice regarding their ocular complaints. They are PCR and /or CT-scan approved COVID-19 infection. Comprehensive eye examination done for these patients started with visual acuity assessment by Snellen chart, then refraction followed by examination of the eye and its adnexa by slit lamp for signs of inflammation.

Results

The patients had a mean age of 47.5 years, and the rate of blurring of vision was 39.3%, whether they had ocular manifestation or not, and it showed substantial association with disease severity.

Conclusion

COVID-19 infection was associated with visual impairment, and the ophthalmologic manifestations severity was related to systemic morbidity.

Keywords: Blurred vision, COVID-19, Red eye, Conjunctivitis, Viral infection, Pandemic.