Corneal Changes in Eyes Could Be indicative of 'Long COVID-19', Study finds

A study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology discovered that signs of nerve damage in the cells present on the surface of human eyes can help doctors determine whether a patient is going to suffer from ‘long COVID-19'. The study found, “Corneal confocal microscopy identifies corneal small nerve fibre loss and increased dendritic cells (DCs) in patients with long COVID-19, especially those with neurological symptoms.”

The loss of nerve fibres and an increase in important immune cells on the surface of the cornea could be an identifying hallmark of long COVID-19, according to a study undertaken by researchers from Qatar and Turkey. Nerve fibres are nerve branches that carry sensory information to the central nervous system. In this cross-sectional study at a single tertiary referral university hospital, 40 patients, all of whom had recovered from COVID-19 one to six months ago, and 30 healthy control participants were enrolled.

Changes in the cornea were more visible in individuals with neurological symptoms such as loss of taste or smell, dizziness, brain fog, neuropathic pain, numbness, and so on, according to the study. All of the individuals had their corneas scanned with CCM to check for minor nerve fibre damage and dendritic cell density. The 40 COVID-19 recovered patients' results were then compared to the 30 healthy patients'.

Questionnaire given to all patients

A questionnaire was given to each of the 40 participants in the study to collect data on their respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, musculoskeletal, psychological/psychiatric, gastrointestinal, dermatological, and ear, nose, and throat problems.
Twenty-two patients had neurological symptoms four weeks after infection, and another 13 individuals experienced similar symptoms 12 weeks later. “Another major finding of this study is that corneal DC density was increased in COVID-19 patients, comprised of mature DCs in patients with persisting neurological symptoms at 4 weeks, with an increase in both mature and immature DCs at 12 weeks, providing insights into the evolution of immune activation in COVID-19,” the study stated.