Retinal and Optic Conditions

When SARS-CoV-2 infects the body, the eyes are not bystanders: patients have presented with conjunctivitis, retinal artery occlusion, and subtle structural changes detectable by optical coherence tomography, while tears and ocular secretions have been shown to carry viable virus, raising real questions about transmission. These findings are thought to involve the ACE2 receptor, which the virus uses to enter cells and which is expressed on the ocular surface, though the precise mechanisms linking systemic COVID-19 to specific retinal and vascular damage remain incompletely understood. Rarer associations, such as Susac syndrome — an autoimmune endotheliopathy affecting small vessels in the eye, ear, and brain — have also been reported in the context of COVID-19, suggesting the virus may trigger immune responses that reach well beyond the lung. Researchers are now working to clarify which ocular complications are causally driven by the virus itself, which arise from systemic inflammation or coagulopathy, and what long-term consequences may persist in recovered patients.

Works

46,039

Total citations

264,853

Keywords

COVID-19Ocular FindingsRetinal Artery OcclusionConjunctivitisTears and SecretionsSusac Syndrome