Incident Ocular Inflammation After COVID-19 Infection in a US Veteran Population

To investigate whether COVID-19 infection is a risk factor for incident ocular inflammatory disease.

Retrospective case-crossover study.

The US Veterans Health Administration Corporate Data Warehouse was used to identify patients with positive COVID-19 testing and incident ocular inflammatory disease between March 2020 and May 2022. The timing of incident ocular inflammation and COVID-19 testing was assessed for each participant to determine whether positive COVID-19 testing occurred 0-60 days prior to incident ocular inflammation diagnosis (risk period) or 15-75 days after incident ocular inflammation diagnosis (control period). The main outcome measure was the odds of positive COVID-19 testing in the risk period versus control period.

Of the 1006 patients with incident ocular inflammation and a positive COVID-19 test in the study period, the age mean ± standard deviation was 62.6 ± 9.8 years and 840 (83%) were male. The odds of COVID-19 exposure was higher in the risk than control period (odds ratio [OR], 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-2.36; P = 0.03). Ocular inflammation was more likely to be bilateral in the risk period (OR, 3.97; 95% CI, 1.01-23.01; P = 0.03). Other ocular features and demographic characteristics were similar in the risk and control periods. Most cases of ocular inflammation were quiescent at the most recent eye examination.

Incident ocular inflammation is associated with COVID-19 infection, but the increased risk is small, and the ocular inflammation is typically acute.