The ocular surface manifestation in ICU coronavirus disease-infected patients: a matched-pair analysis

Objectives Evaluation of the incidence and nature of ocular surface involvement in ICU coronavirus disease (COVID)-infected patients. Patients and methods A prospective observational comparative study was carried out between March 2020 and April 2021 on ICU-admitted COVID-19-infected patients and non-COVID patients above the age of 16 years who were admitted to the ICU and met the inclusion criteria. Results Of all, 1620 patients were enrolled; 590 were in COVID group, whereas 1030 patients were in non-COVID group. The mean age was 55±22 years. The mean ICU stay was 11.55±4.22 and 8.45±3.93 days in the COVID and non-COVID groups, respectively. Ocular surface manifestations were significantly higher in patients with longer ICU stay (P=0.03). Regarding ocular surface manifestations, eye discharge was the highest incidence in the COVID group, whereas corneal ulcer was the highest in the non-COVID group. There was a significantly higher incidence of ocular surface manifestations in the non-COVID group (P=0.06). Longer ICU stays and low conscious level were significantly associated with more eye manifestations (P=0.03). Conclusion COVID-infected patients had the highest rate of eye discharge, whereas non-COVID patients had the highest rate of corneal ulcer. Longer ICU stays and low conscious level were associated with more eye manifestations. COVID-infected patients have no distinguishing characteristics from non-COVID individuals regarding ocular surface signs.