Symptoms and risk factors of ocular complications following dengue infection

Dengue infection can result in severe ocular complications. We prospectively studied the range of ocular symptoms in a cohort of patients with dengue infection.

We included adult patients with serologically confirmed dengue infection who received clinical care at the National University Hospital, Singapore. They were assessed for demographic characteristics, ocular symptoms, laboratory parameters and dengue severity. Patients with two or more ocular symptoms were referred to an ophthalmologist and underwent full ophthalmologic examination that included visual acuity, slit-lamp examination and indirect fundoscopic examination. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed and statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

One hundred and fifty-six patients, aged (S.D.) 33.94 (12.7) years, consisting of 89 (57.1%) males and 67 (42.9%) females, participated in this study. They reported ocular symptoms, such as eye strain (30%), retro-ocular pain (20%), blurring of vision (10%), double vision (3%), foreign body sensation (3%), eye flashes (2%) and floaters (1%). Multivariate analysis identified white cell count (odds ratio, OR 0.531; 95% CI 0.292, 0.963) and serum albumin (OR 0.758; 95% confidence intervals, CI 0.618, 0.928) as significant predictors of clinically significant ocular symptoms. The triad of symptoms (eye flashes, floaters and blurring of vision) was highly predictive for the development of retinal hemorrhages (positive predictive value 100%).

Dengue virus results in a spectrum of ocular manifestations, ranging from non-specific symptoms to severe retinal hemorrhages. Further studies are needed to validate the triad of ocular symptoms as a screening tool for severe ocular complications following dengue infection.