Symptoms of Covid-19: ‘Nodules’ Found on Patients’ EYBALLS

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Covid-19 can cause potentially dangerous’ nodules’ on patients’ EYEBALLS due to inflammation caused by virus, scientists warn

  • French doctors performed MRI scans on 129 critically ill Covid-19 patients
  • They found evidence of eye nodules in nine of these hospitalized individuals
  • What causes them and their impact on long-term health is currently unknown

By Joe Pinkstone for Mailonline

Published: Updated:

From a dry cough to a high fever, coronavirus is known to be linked to a range of unpleasant symptoms.

Now a new study has revealed another possible side effect – nodules on the eyeballs.

Researchers have warned that infection with the coronavirus can cause inflammation of the eyeballs and lead to the formation of mysterious nodules on the back of the organ.

Experts don’t yet know what causes these nodules or the impact they have on a patient’s long-term health.

However, a study of 129 French patients who had severe Covid-19 and underwent MRI scans revealed that nine of them (seven percent) suffered from abnormalities.

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Photograph the MRI scan of a 56-year-old man with severe COVID-19. The patient had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit for 20 days when an MRI was performed. He was on a ventilator and in a prone position. This picture shows nodules on the back of the eyeball in the macular area (white arrowhead) and the extramacular area (black arrowhead). The arrow on the right indicates a detached retina

Photograph the MRI scan of a 56-year-old man with severe COVID-19. The patient had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit for 20 days when an MRI was performed. He was on a ventilator and in a prone position. This picture shows nodules on the back of the eyeball in the macular area (white arrowhead) and the extramacular area (black arrowhead). The arrow on the right indicates a detached retina

Eight of the patients in the study were ever treated in intensive care.

“We have shown that a few patients with severe COVID-19 from the French COVID-19 cohort had one or more nodules of the posterior pole of the globe,” said lead author Dr. Augustin Lecler from the University of Paris.

“This is the first time that these findings have been described with MRI.”

The images produced by the MRI reveal at least one lump on the macular region of the organ in affected individuals. This region is an integral part of the central vision.

Researchers believe the nodules could be linked to inflammation caused by the virus, a common manifestation of the disease that affects several organs.

Pictured, another MRI image of the same 56-year-old French Covid patient, the black arrowhead shows a lump in the extramacular region of the viewing organ. Experts do not yet know what causes or impacts long-term health on the patient

Pictured, another MRI image of the same 56-year-old French Covid patient, the black arrowhead shows a lump in the extramacular region of the viewing organ. Experts do not yet know what causes or impacts the long-term health of the patient

Scientists are investigating whether coronavirus patients with neurological symptoms are affected for a long time

From the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19 to infect the brain and affect the network of neurons in the body.

Now scientists are looking into the long-term impact of these symptoms to see if the virus is causing permanent neurological damage.

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden are tracking the progress of 19 people who contracted the virus and developed neurological symptoms last year.

Disease severity in the cohort ranged from mild to critical, and all participants recovered, with symptoms ranging from delirium to coma.

Eight people in the study (42 percent) had ‘altered mental status’ and eight also had headaches as a result of their Covid-19.

But they also think the problem could be caused by patients lying on their stomach in the hospital prone position, which prevents the veins from deflating inadvertently.

Of the nine patients with eye nodules, two had diabetes, six were obese, and two had hypertension.

The team behind the finding also speculates that the nodules could be connected to intubation for ventilation.

“Our study calls for screening of all patients hospitalized in the ICU for severe COVID-19,” said Dr. Lecler.

“We believe that those patients should receive specific eye protection treatments.”

The researchers will conduct follow-up clinical and MRI examinations in the survivors to monitor the nodules and see if they have any clinical consequences, such as vision loss or visual field disturbances.

They are also conducting MRI studies in new patients with severe COVID-19 from the second and third waves of the pandemic, using more rigorous tests.

Meanwhile, the effects on patients with moderate Covid are currently being investigated.

Dr. Lecler added, ‘We have initiated a prospective study using high-resolution special images for eye and orbit exploration in patients with mild to moderate Covid.

“Therefore, we will be able to know whether our findings were specific to severe Covid patients or not.”

The findings are published in the journal Radiology.

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