• Noemi Güemes-Villahoz, Barbara Burgos-Blasco, Julián García-Feijoó, Federico Sáenz-Francés, Pedro Arriola-Villalobos, Jose María Martinez-de-la-Casa, Jose Manuel Benítez-Del-Castillo, and María Herrera de la Muela.
• Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Calle del Prof Martín Lagos, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
• Graefes Arch. Clin. Exp. Ophthalmol. 2020 Nov 1; 258 (11): 2501-2507.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency and clinical presentation of conjunctivitis in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at the Hospital Clinico San Carlos of Madrid, Spain. A total of 301 subjects from the COVID admission unit with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. The presence and clinical characteristics of conjunctivitis were evaluated. Laboratory, radiological, and clinical results in patients with and without conjunctivitis stratified by sex were analyzed.ResultsOf the 301 subjects included, 180 patients (59.8%) were male and the median age was 72 years (IQ 59-82). Overall, 35 patients (11.6%) were diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis. We found no relationship between the COVID-19 severity score and the presence of conjunctivitis (P = 0.17). However, conjunctivitis was more frequent in males with moderate clinical severity and in women classified as clinically mild. The natural history of the disease seems to be a rapid self-limited conjunctivitis that improves without treatment and does not affect visual acuity nor associate short-term complications.ConclusionsApproximately, 1 out of 10 hospitalized non-critical COVID-19 patients presents conjunctivitis during the disease. Compared with other viral conjunctivitis, we found distinctive clinical findings that could guide defining and differentiating conjunctivitis in COVID-19 patients.Trial Registration Number20/336_E_COVID.

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