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
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