Ophthalmologist Spoke About The Impact Of COVID-19 On Vision

In this case, a person may show several symptoms at once: redness of the eyes, photophobia, lacrimation, a feeling of "sand" in the eyes, cramps in the eyes, swelling of the eyelids, as well as discharge from the eyes. “Many people are interested in how exactly a new infection affects the eyes. The news that vision is impairing has worried many. “You need to understand that the virus is not yet sufficiently studied to draw any precise conclusions. Today we can only talk about some of the manifestations of the organs of vision ", - notes the candidate of medical sciences, head of the department of ophthalmology of the Federal State Budgetary Institution NMITSO FMBA of Russia Nika Takhchidi in an interview with the AiF. She clarified that viral conjunctivitis is well treated with standard local antiviral therapy. “At the same time, it is not worth undertaking the treatment of viral conjunctivitis on your own, it is better to contact a specialist who will select the drugs and dosages, and will also be able to monitor the course of treatment,” the ophthalmologist notes. The mechanism of action of COVID-19 on the eyes fits not only into the picture of catarrhal manifestations from the ENT organs, eyes and changes in the lungs, Takhchidi said. “The coronavirus also affects the endothelial layer of blood vessels,” notes Nika Tahchidi. She emphasizes that this becomes the cause of a violation of the microcirculation of blood in the organs with the subsequent disruption of their work. “When examining the histological material of the vessels, it turned out that in patients with COVID-19, the walls of the blood vessels had signs of inflammation. Also, many patients had increased thrombus formation,”says the ophthalmologist. Thus, the coronavirus can infect the vessels of the eyes, causing microvascular damage to the retina. She noted that the processes are often painless, which is why patients may not always notice a lesion in a timely manner.