Type presentatie | E-poster |
Titel | SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in conjunctival swabs and ocular surface manifestations of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia: a Belgian cohort. |
Doel | To investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and to assess systemic and ophthalmic clinical characteristics in a Belgian cohort |
Methodes | Prospective study of adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by a chest computer tomography (CT) with no recent diagnosis or exacerbation of an ocular pathology. After completing an ocular symptom questionnaire, the patients underwent a macroscopic ocular exam and a conjunctival swab. A reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed on the swabs to identify SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Clinicobiological data and PCR results of both ocular and nasopharyngeal samples were collected. |
Resultaten | Two patients of 58 (3,45%) had a positive conjunctival PCR: one with <10E3 copies/ml, the second highly positive with >=10E3 - <10E5 copies/ml. None of them had ocular symptoms. 13 patients (22%) presented ocular symptoms such as tearing (69,23%), redness (53,85%), burning 38% or itching 15,38%. Linear regression found that there was a significant statistical correlation between the presence of ocular and neurological symptoms (p= 0,021). |
Conclusie | It is possible to find tear fluids with a high viral load but the probability of this occurrence appears to be rather low. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in tears was however not associated with the presence of symptoms in this study. Ocular symptoms may not be related to the presence of the virus itself. |
Belangenverstrengeling | Nee |
Naam | VALYI |
Initialen | Z |
Instituut | CHU Saint Pierre, Ophtalmologie |
Stad | Bruxelles |
Naam | Khalil |
Initialen | M |
Instituut | CHU Saint Pierre, Ophtalmologie |
Stad | Bruxelles |
Naam | Van Den Wijngaert |
Initialen | S |
Instituut | Laboratoire Hospitalier Universitaire de Bruxelles (LHUB-ULB), Microbiologie |
Stad | Bruxelles |
Naam | Konopnicki |
Initialen | D |
Instituut | CHU Saint Pierre, Maladies Infectieuses |
Stad | Bruxelles |
Naam | Willermain |
Initialen | F |
Instituut | CHU Saint Pierre, Ophtalmologie |
Stad | Bruxelles |
Naam | Bruyneel |
Initialen | M |
Instituut | CHU Saint Pierre, Pneumologie |
Stad | Bruxelles |