Scientists warn that Covid-19 may cause potentially dangerous “nodules” in patients’ glasses due to inflammation caused by the virus
- French doctors performed MRI scans on 129 seriously ill Covid-19 patients
- They found evidence of eye nodules in nine of these hospitalized individuals
- It is currently unknown what causes them and their long-term impact on health
From dry cough to high fever, coronavirus is known to be associated with a number of unpleasant symptoms.
Now, a new study has revealed another potential side effect: nodules in the eyeballs.
Researchers have warned that coronavirus infection can cause inflammation of the eyeballs and cause the formation of mysterious nodules on the back of the organ.
Experts still don’t know what causes these nodules or the impact they have on a patient’s long-term health.
However, a study of 129 French patients who had severe Covid-19 and who underwent MRI revealed that nine of them (seven percent) were suffering from abnormalities.
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The image shows the MRI of a 56-year-old man with severe COVID-19. The patient had been admitted to the intensive care unit for 20 days when an MRI was performed. He was carrying a fan and was in a prone position. This photo shows nodules on the back of the eyeball in the macular region (white arrowhead) and the extramacular region (black arrowhead). The right arrow points to a separate retina
Eight of the patients in the study were treated at some point in intensive care.
“We demonstrated that some patients with severe COVID-19 from the French cohort COVID-19 had one or more nodules from the posterior pole of the balloon,” said study author Dr.
“This is the first time these findings have been described by magnetic resonance imaging.”
Magnetic resonance imaging images reveal at least one nodule in the macular region of the organ in affected individuals. This region is integral to the central vision.
Researchers believe the nodules could be related to inflammation triggered by the virus, a common manifestation of the disease that attacks several organs.
In the image, another MRI image of the same French patient of Covid, 56, the black arrowhead shows a nodule in the extramacular region of the organ of sight. Experts still do not know what causes or impact they have on the patient’s long-term health
But they also theorize that the problem could be caused by patients lying on their foreheads in the hospital in a prone position that inadvertently prevents the veins from draining.
Of the nine patients with ocular nodules, two had diabetes, six were obese, and two had hypertension.
The team behind the finding also speculates that the nodules could be connected to intubation for ventilation.
“Our study advocates screening all patients hospitalized in the ICU to detect severe COVID-19,” Dr. Lecler said.
“We believe these patients should receive specific eye protection treatments.”
Researchers perform follow-up clinical and MRI scans on survivors to monitor nodules and see if they have clinical consequences such as vision loss or visual field impairment.
They also perform MRI scans in new patients with severe COVID-19 from the second and third wave of the pandemic, using more rigorous testing.
Meanwhile, the effects in patients with moderate Covid are currently being investigated.
Dr Lecler added: “We have launched a prospective study with dedicated high-resolution images to explore the eye and orbit in patients with mild to moderate Covid.
“Therefore, we will be able to know whether our results were specific for severe Covid patients or not.”
The findings were published in the journal Radiology.