Observational studyThe ocular surface2022
Small fiber neuropathy in the cornea of Covid-19 patients associated with the generation of ocular surface disease.
Observational study in The ocular surface, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-term ocular symptoms following COVID-19 linked to immune dysregulation, dysautonomia and peripheral neuropathy.Nature communications · 2026Article
- New healthcare insights in ophthalmology: using a data integration center (DIC) to analyze the care of patients with corneal ulceration during the COVID-19 pandemic.International ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Deep learning-based segmentation and density estimation of corneal nerves and dendritic cells from In Vivo confocal microscopy images.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Ocular and Neurological Sequelae in Long COVID: Dry Eye, Asthenopia, Sleep Disorders, Asthenia, and Restless Legs Syndrome-A Case Report with Literature Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Corneal neurotization meets COVID-19: a case report of minimally invasive corneal neurotization complicated by COVID-19-related keratitis.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2025Article
- In vivo confocal microscopy provides evidence of corneal nerve damage and basal tear film reduction in patients treated with oral isotretinoin.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Cornea Oculomics: A Clinical Blueprint for Extending Corneal Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence in Systemic Health Insights.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Post-COVID-19 Small Fiber Neuropathy as a New Emerging Quality of Life-Threatening Disease: A Systematic Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Article
- CD4Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Review
- Corneal nerve fiber morphology following COVID-19 infection in vaccinated and non-vaccinated population.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Neuropathic Corneal Pain after Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infection.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Clinical associations of corneal neuromas with ocular surface diseases.Neural regeneration research · 2024Review
- Hypothetical framework for post-COVID 19 condition based on a fibromyalgia pathogenetic model.Clinical rheumatology · 2023Review
- A Clinical Qualification Protocol Highlights Overlapping Genomic Influences and Neuro-Autonomic Mechanisms in Ehlers-Danlos and Long COVID-19 Syndromes.Current issues in molecular biology · 2023Article
- Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Real-World Data Analysis.Diabetes & metabolism journal · 2023Article
- Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023Review
- Recovery of Corneal Innervation after Treatment in Dry Eye Disease: A Confocal Microscopy Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo describe the association between Sars-CoV-2 infection and small fiber neuropathy in the cornea identified by in vivo corneal confocal microscopy.
methodsTwenty-three patients who had overcome COVID-19 were recruited to this observational retrospective study. Forty-six uninfected volunteers were also recruited and studied as a control group. All subjects were examined under in vivo confocal microscopy to obtain images of corneal subbasal nerve fibers in order to study the presence of neuroma-like structures, axonal beadings and dendritic cells. The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and Schirmer tear test were used as indicators of Dry Eye Disease (DED) and ocular surface pathology.
resultsTwenty-one patients (91.31%) presented alterations of the corneal subbasal plexus and corneal tissue consistent with small fiber neuropathy. Images from healthy subjects did not indicate significant nerve fiber or corneal tissue damage. Eight patients reported increased sensations of ocular dryness after COVID-19 infection and had positive DED indicators. Beaded axons were found in 82.60% of cases, mainly in patients reporting ocular irritation symptoms. Neuroma-like images were found in 65.22% patients, more frequently in those with OSDI scores >13. Dendritic cells were found in 69.56% of patients and were more frequent in younger asymptomatic patients. The presence of morphological alterations in patients up to 10 months after recovering from Sars-CoV-2 infection points to the chronic nature of the neuropathy.
conclusionsSars-CoV-2 infection may be inducing small fiber neuropathy in the ocular surface, sharing symptomatology and morphological landmarks with DED and diabetic neuropathy.
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