Material and Methods:
In the current study, we included 93 patients who were being followed up
and treated in the intensive care unit between 01/01/2021 and 02/15/2021
because of the complications associated with Covid-19 infection such as
severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ
dysfunction. Both eyes of the patients were evaluated separately.
Patient relatives were informed before the study and a signed consent
form was obtained. The principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were
complied with at all stages of the study. Ethical approval was obtained
from the Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Decision number: 2021/21).
The diagnostic criterion for including patients in the study was a
positive reverse transcription-PCR (RTPCR) test of the nasopharyngeal
swab sample for SARS-CoV-2. 3 patients with a negative PCR test but
typical Covid-19 appearance on chest CT scan and typical clinical
symptoms, and patients of high clinical suspicion with high C reactive
protein (CRP) and lymphopenia <1100/mm3in the blood sample
were also included in the study.
Demographic findings such as age and gender of the patients were
determined, and the presence of systemic diseases was evaluated.
Treatments applied for Covid-19 infection and laboratory parameters,
especially coagulation factors, were evaluated. Personal protective
equipment was worn and precautions were taken before entering the
patient rooms. The anterior segment findings such as cornea,
conjunctiva, and eyelids were examined first with a portable handheld
biomicroscope and direct ophthalmoscope for each patient. Subsequently,
the eyes were dilated with 1% Tropicamide, and retinal and optic nerve
examinations were performed by the same ophthalmologist with an indirect
ophthalmoscope and 28D lens. During the anterior segment examinations of
the patients, conditions requiring eye care, especially in patients who
were intubated and placed in the prone position, such as corneal
epithelial defect, conjunctivitis and keratitis were determined.
Intensive care personnel were also trained, and eye care and treatments
were provided.
Statistical Analysis : The sample size of the study was
determined by Power Test with the power of each variable considered at
least 80% and type 1 error taken as 5%. We checked whether the
continuous measurements in the study were normally distributed or not
with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (n > 50) and
Skewness–Kurtosis tests. Parametric tests were applied because the
measurements were normally distributed. Descriptive statistics for
continuous variables were expressed as mean, standard deviation,
minimum, maximum. “Independent T-test” was used to compare the
measurements between the groups. “Pearson correlation coefficients”
were calculated to determine the relationships between measurements.
Chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between
categorical variables. In the calculations, the statistical significance
level (a) was taken as 5% and the SPSS (IBM SPSS for Windows, ver.24)
statistics package program was used for analysis
.