Covid-19 could cause potentially dangerous’ nodules’ on patients’ EYEBALLS due to virus-induced inflammation, scientists warn
- French doctors performed MRI scans on 129 critically ill patients with Covid-19
- They found evidence of eye nodules in nine of those hospitalized
- Their causes and long-term effects on health are unknown
From dry cough to high fever, coronavirus is known to be associated with a range of unpleasant symptoms.
Now, a new study has revealed another possible side effect – nodules on your eyes.
Researchers have warned that coronavirus infection can cause inflammation in the eyes and lead to the formation of secretory nodules at the back of the organ.
Experts still do not know what causes these nodules or their impact on patients’ long-term health.
However, a study of 129 French Covid-19 patients who had severe Covid-19 and underwent MRI scans, found that nine of them (seven percent) suffered from dementia.
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Pictured is the MRI scan of a 56-year-old man with real COVID-19. The patient had been hospitalized in an intensive care unit for 20 days when an MRI was performed. He was on an air conditioner and in a prone position. This image shows nodules at the back of the eyeball in the macular region (white arrowhead) and the extramacular region (black arrowheads). The arrow on the right indicates an unattached retina
Eight of the patients in the study were treated at some point in intensive care.
‘We showed that a few patients with COVID-19 solid from the French COVID-19 group had one or several nodules of the posterior pole of the globe,’ said the lead author of the study Dr Augustin Lecler from the University of Paris.
‘This is the first time these findings have been interpreted using MRI.’
The images taken by the MRI show at least one nodule on the macular area of the organ in depressed individuals. This area is critical in a central vision.
Researchers believe the nodules may be linked to inflammation that triggers the virus, a common manifestation of the disease that attacks several organs.
In the photo, another MRI image from the same 56-year-old French Covid patient, the black arrowhead shows a nodule in the extramacular area of the visual organ. Experts do not yet know the causes or effects on the patient’s long-term health
But they also say the problem could be caused by patients lying face down in the hospital in the prone position that, unknowingly, prevents veins from draining.
Of the nine patients with eye nodules, two had diabetes, six were obese and two were hypertensive.
The team behind the discovery also argues that the nodules may be connected to intubation for ventilation.
‘Our study calls for screening of all hospitalized patients in the ICU for solid COVID-19,’ Dr Lecler said.
‘We believe these patients should receive specific eye protection treatments.’
The researchers are conducting follow-up clinical trials and MRI in the survivors to monitor the nodules and see if they have any clinical effects such as vision loss or loss of vision.
They are also performing MRI tests in new patients with true COVID-19 from the second and third waves of pandemic disease, using more rigorous tests.
At the same time, the effects on patients with moderate Covid are being studied.
Dr Lecler said: ‘We have launched a study with specific high-resolution images to study the eye and orbit in patients with mild to moderate Covid.
‘So we’ll know if our decisions were specific to Covid’s hard patients or not.’
The findings were published in the journal Radiology.