The Corona
virus infection started at the end of 2019 in Wuhan - China and spread rapidly throughout the world, generating the
Covid 19 pandemic. The manifestations of the Covid disease were extremely varied, from a simple flu, with
fever,
cough, weakness,
headache,
joint pain, up to severe
pneumonia, with
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-Cov2) and even death. The symptomatology of the disease, the evolution and the complications that appeared varied, depending on the associated pathology -
diabetes mellitus (DM),
hypertension (HT), the age and the immune status of the patient. Aim: The ocular manifestations related to
Covid 19 were mostly represented by
conjunctivitis, but the neurotropic character of Corona virus could justify the appearance of certain neuro-ophthalmological manifestations, such as:
optic neuritis (ON),
cranial nerve palsies, visual field (VF) anomalies. The aim of this paper was to research the cases of
optic neuropathy post-
Covid 19, published in the specialty literature between 2020 and 2022. The following were evaluated: risk factors, distribution by age group and gender, evolution and complications, as well as the clinical forms of
optic neuropathies. Materials and methods: We used Google Scholar and PubMed databases to find articles on
optic neuropathies related to the
Covid-19 infection. We followed the articles published during the pandemic and selected 21 cases, belonging to 17 authors, irrespective of their origin and the language in which they were written. Results: 21 patients affected by ON in the
Covid-19 disease, 11 women and 10 men, were mentioned. The
optic neuropathies described by the authors were: retrobulbar
optic neuropathy, only one associated with
myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG),
papillitis,
neuroretinitis,
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION), out of which one arteritic
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AAION) and the others non-arteritic
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAAION), one being related to pronation in an oro-tracheal intubated (OTI) patient with
acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Discussions: The neuro-ophthalmological complications associated with
Covid 19 disease can be severe, so the patients should be monitored continuously. Many investigations (serological, immunological and imaging exams) are necessary to exclude other etiologies of ON. Conclusions: A complete ophthalmological exam is mandatory for each patient diagnosed with
Covid 19 disease, even if they have ocular manifestations or not. Abbreviations: SARS-Cov2 =
severe acute respiratory syndrome; DM =
Diabetes mellitus; HT =
Hypertension; ON =
Optic neuritis; VF = Visual field ; NS = Nervous system; CRP =
C-reactive Protein; CL =
cytokines; IL =
interleukins; TNFɑ =
tumor necrosis factor; CNS = central nervous system; ACE =
angiotensin-converting enzyme; CRVO =
central retinal vein occlusion; MOG =
myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein; MOG-AD =
myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody disease; BBB = blood-brain barrier; ARDS =
acute respiratory distress syndrome; IOP = intraocular pressure; CVP = central venous pressure; MSOF = multiple systems organ failure; AAION = arteritic
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy;
NAION = non-arteritic
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; AION =
anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; OCT = optical coherence tomography; CT = computer tomography; AFG = angiofluorography; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging; ESR = erythrocyte sedimentation rate; RF =
rheumatoid factor; ANA =
antinuclear antibodies;
ANCA =
antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies; AQP4 = anti
aquaporin 4; NMO =
neuromyelitis optica; CSF = cerebrospinal fluid; OTI = oro-tracheal intubated; VA = visual acuity; ONTT =
optic neuritis treatment trial; RNFL =
retinal nerve fiber layer; ICU = intensive care unit; LE = left eye; RE = right eye;
MS = multiple sclerosis; ICH =
intracranial hypertension; BCVA = best correction visual acuity; LP = light perception; APD =
afferent pupillary defect; BM = biomicroscopy; PDN =
prednisone; MTX =
methotrexate; MTPN =
methylprednisolone;
NSAID = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; CGL = cells
ganglion layer; VEP = visual evoked potential; CF = counting fingers.