Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis

Purpose: To assess the features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis (HK). Material and Methods: Medical records of 70 patients (83 eyes) with post-COVID-19 HK were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1 with primary HK (26 patients; 30 eyes)...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: G.I. Drozhzhyna, K.V. Sereda, N.I. Khramenko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ukrainian Society of Ophthalmologists 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Ophthalmology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ua.ozhurnal.com/index.php/files/article/view/202
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841556323355852800
author G.I. Drozhzhyna
K.V. Sereda
N.I. Khramenko
author_facet G.I. Drozhzhyna
K.V. Sereda
N.I. Khramenko
author_sort G.I. Drozhzhyna
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: To assess the features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis (HK). Material and Methods: Medical records of 70 patients (83 eyes) with post-COVID-19 HK were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1 with primary HK (26 patients; 30 eyes) and group 2 with recurrent HK (44 patients; 53 eyes). COVID-19 severity was defined as mild (without evidence of viral pneumonia), moderate (pneumonia not treated at the intensive care unit (ICU)) and severe (treatment at the ICU). Levels of total vitamin D, and immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein, herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1/2, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA) in venous blood were assessed. Results: Dendritic HK and ulcerative necrotizing HK were more common in patients with primary keratitis than in recurrent keratitis (20.7% vs 2% and 41.2% vs 15.6%, respectively). Non-necrotizing stromal HK was more common in the latter patients than in the former patients (82.4% vs 37.9%, respectively) and was the most common form of post-COVID-19 HK in both groups. Ulcerative necrotizing HK was more common in patients with primary HK than in patients with recurrent HK (41.4% vs 15.6%, respectively) and was mainly observed after severe COVID-19. In patients with ulcerative necrotizing HK, the level of HSV IgG was 1.6 times higher than in patients with epithelial HK, and 1.5 times higher than in patients with non-necrotizing stromal HK. Elevated anti-VZV, anti-EBNA, and anti-CMV IgG levels were found in 93.2%, 76.4%, and 86.4%, respectively, of the examined patients. Conclusion: SARS CoV 2 infection may be a potential risk factor for HSV reactivation from latency and primary or recurrent HK, with an increase in the frequency of bilateral ocular lesions and stromal forms of HK. The ophthalmologist must be aware of this ocular complication in COVID 19–infected cases, which may present either during acute or recovery phase of the illness; it mostly occurs in severely infected patients.
format Article
id doaj-art-fc307255f05c440abf46ea31945a150a
institution Kabale University
issn 2412-8740
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Ukrainian Society of Ophthalmologists
record_format Article
series Journal of Ophthalmology
spelling doaj-art-fc307255f05c440abf46ea31945a150a2025-01-07T09:54:16ZengUkrainian Society of OphthalmologistsJournal of Ophthalmology2412-87402024-12-0163910.31288/oftalmolzh2024639Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitisG.I. Drozhzhyna0K.V. Sereda1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9993-780XN.I. Khramenko2https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2777-037XSI "The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the NAMS of Ukraine"SI "The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the NAMS of Ukraine"SI "The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the NAMS of Ukraine"Purpose: To assess the features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis (HK). Material and Methods: Medical records of 70 patients (83 eyes) with post-COVID-19 HK were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1 with primary HK (26 patients; 30 eyes) and group 2 with recurrent HK (44 patients; 53 eyes). COVID-19 severity was defined as mild (without evidence of viral pneumonia), moderate (pneumonia not treated at the intensive care unit (ICU)) and severe (treatment at the ICU). Levels of total vitamin D, and immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein, herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1/2, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA) in venous blood were assessed. Results: Dendritic HK and ulcerative necrotizing HK were more common in patients with primary keratitis than in recurrent keratitis (20.7% vs 2% and 41.2% vs 15.6%, respectively). Non-necrotizing stromal HK was more common in the latter patients than in the former patients (82.4% vs 37.9%, respectively) and was the most common form of post-COVID-19 HK in both groups. Ulcerative necrotizing HK was more common in patients with primary HK than in patients with recurrent HK (41.4% vs 15.6%, respectively) and was mainly observed after severe COVID-19. In patients with ulcerative necrotizing HK, the level of HSV IgG was 1.6 times higher than in patients with epithelial HK, and 1.5 times higher than in patients with non-necrotizing stromal HK. Elevated anti-VZV, anti-EBNA, and anti-CMV IgG levels were found in 93.2%, 76.4%, and 86.4%, respectively, of the examined patients. Conclusion: SARS CoV 2 infection may be a potential risk factor for HSV reactivation from latency and primary or recurrent HK, with an increase in the frequency of bilateral ocular lesions and stromal forms of HK. The ophthalmologist must be aware of this ocular complication in COVID 19–infected cases, which may present either during acute or recovery phase of the illness; it mostly occurs in severely infected patients.https://ua.ozhurnal.com/index.php/files/article/view/202covid 19herpetic keratitisrecurrent herpetic keratitisherpes simplex viruscorneal trauma
spellingShingle G.I. Drozhzhyna
K.V. Sereda
N.I. Khramenko
Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
Journal of Ophthalmology
covid 19
herpetic keratitis
recurrent herpetic keratitis
herpes simplex virus
corneal trauma
title Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
title_full Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
title_fullStr Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
title_full_unstemmed Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
title_short Features of the course of post-COVID-19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
title_sort features of the course of post covid 19 primary and recurrent herpetic keratitis
topic covid 19
herpetic keratitis
recurrent herpetic keratitis
herpes simplex virus
corneal trauma
url https://ua.ozhurnal.com/index.php/files/article/view/202
work_keys_str_mv AT gidrozhzhyna featuresofthecourseofpostcovid19primaryandrecurrentherpetickeratitis
AT kvsereda featuresofthecourseofpostcovid19primaryandrecurrentherpetickeratitis
AT nikhramenko featuresofthecourseofpostcovid19primaryandrecurrentherpetickeratitis