Oculomic stratification of COVID-19 patients' intensive therapy unit admission status and mortality by retinal morphological findings
Courtie, Ella Taylor, Matthew Danks, Dominic Acharjee, Animesh Jackson, Thomas Logan, Ann Veenith, Tonny Blanch, Richard J
Courtie, Ella
Taylor, Matthew
Danks, Dominic
Acharjee, Animesh
Jackson, Thomas
Logan, Ann
Veenith, Tonny
Blanch, Richard J
Abstract
To investigate if retinal thickness has predictive utility in COVID-19 outcomes by evaluating the statistical association between retinal thickness using OCT and of COVID-19-related mortality. Secondary outcomes included associations between retinal thickness and length of stay (LoS) in hospital. In this retrospective cohort study, OCT scans from 230 COVID-19 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ITU) were compared with age and gender-matched patients with pneumonia from before March 2020. Total retinal, GCL + IPL, and RNFL thicknesses were recorded, and analysed with systemic measures collected at the time of admission and mortality outcomes, using linear regression models, Pearson's R correlation, and Principal Component Analysis. Retinal thickness was significantly associated with all-time mortality on follow up in the COVID-19 group (p = 0.015), but not 28-day mortality (p = 0.151). Retinal and GCL + IPL layer thicknesses were both significantly associated with LoS in hospital for COVID-19 patients (p = 0.006 for both), but not for patients with pneumonia (p = 0.706 and 0.989 respectively). RNFL thickness was not associated with LoS in either group (COVID-19 p = 0.097, pneumonia p = 0.692). Retinal thickness associated with LoS in hospital and long-term mortality in COVID-19 patients, suggesting that retinal structure could be a surrogate marker for frailty and predictor of disease severity in this group of patients, but not in patients with pneumonia from other causes.
MIDER Authors
Affiliations
Citations
Altmetric:
Date
2024-09-12
Type
Article
Collections
Citation
Courtie E, Taylor M, Danks D, Acharjee A, Jackson T, Logan A, Veenith T, Blanch RJ. Oculomic stratification of COVID-19 patients' intensive therapy unit admission status and mortality by retinal morphological findings. Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 12;14(1):21312. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-68543-z.