Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Retinal Artery Occlusion

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Purpose: To determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of retinal artery occlusion (RAO), including branch RAO (BRAO) and central RAO (CRAO), among new patients before and after the declaration of a state of emergency due to coronavirus disease 2019 (April 7, 2020) in Japan. Methods: New patients and patients with newly diagnosed RAO were categorized into “Before” and “After” groups based on the initial visit. The prevalence, sex ratio, and age of patients newly diagnosed with RAO were compared between the groups. The rates of patients newly diagnosed with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEX) were also examined in the Before and After groups. Results: This study included 53 and 31 patients with BRAO and 55 and 40 patients with CRAO in the Before and After groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in prevalence of RAOs among newly diagnosed patients (BRAO: p = 0.449; CRAO: p = 0.060), patients with RRD (BRAO: p = 0.425; CRAO: p = 0.082), or patients with PEX (BRAO: p = 0.317; CRAO: p = 0.072), as well as in sex ratio and age. Although initial best‐corrected visual acuity (BRAO: p = 0.303; CRAO: p = 0.291) of RAOs showed no significant differences, the final best‐corrected visual acuity in BRAO significantly worsened in the After group ( p = 0.002). Conclusions: Although the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic did not affect the prevalence of RAOs among new patients compared with that of RRD and PEX, it may have affected its pathophysiology.

This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit: