Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical manifestations and therapeutic outcomes in acute endophthalmitis

Endophthalmitis incidence and clinical characteristics was reported to change during Covid-19 pandemic, due to multiple influencing factors, such as prolonged lockdown periods, persistent immune suppression following Sars-Cov-2 infection, and mask wearing. We conducted a retrospective eight-year stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 475 - 481
Main Authors:	Dascalu, Ana Maria, Jurja, Sanda, Mocanu, Carmen Luminita, Alexandrescu, Cristina, Stana, Daniela, Totir, Madalina, Ergin, Ece, Tudor, Corneliu, Grigorescu, Catalin Cicerone, Serban, Dragos, Simion, Laurentiu, Dumitrescu, Dan, Marin, Andrei, Constantinescu, Catalin Teodor, Cristea, Bogdan Mihai
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Ion Motofei, Carol Davila University 31-10-2024
Subjects:	covid-19 endophthalmitis hypervirulent intravitreal antibiotherapy klebsiella pneumoniae outcomes
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Summary:	Endophthalmitis incidence and clinical characteristics was reported to change during Covid-19 pandemic, due to multiple influencing factors, such as prolonged lockdown periods, persistent immune suppression following Sars-Cov-2 infection, and mask wearing. We conducted a retrospective eight-year study, during January 2016 and December 2023, that aims to investigates the differences in terms of etiology, clinical characteristics and outcomes in cases with acute endophthalmitis, admitted before (2016-2019) and during Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2023). The two study subgroups were homogenous in term of age, gender distribution, associated comorbidities, and addressability. During Covid-19 pandemic there were significant delays in presentation (p=0.02), more cases of endogenous endophthalmitis (p=0.025), and patients presented a more intense systemic inflammatory reaction (p<0.01). Moreover, undiagnosed cases of diabetes were more frequent in pandemic group, and were associated with endogenous endophthalmitis (59.3% vs 16.6%, p<0.001). The were differences in etiology between the two subgroups, the first cases of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae endogenous endophthalmitis reported in our center. The outcomes were comparable in terms of hospital stay and rate of evisceration. However, the visual function was worse in the pandemic group, which may be correlated with the specific differences in etiology and delayed presentation. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of large spectrum antibiotherapy are essential to preserve vision.
ISSN:	2392-7674 2392-7674
DOI:	10.22543/2392-7674.1554