{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T23:47:28Z","timestamp":1784072848455,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,17]],"date-time":"2023-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1676592000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Slovenian research agency","award":["P3-0333"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P3-0333"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aimed to quantify possible long-term impairment of the retinal microcirculation and microvasculature by reassessing a cohort of patients with acute COVID-19 without other known comorbidities one year after their discharge from the hospital. Thirty patients in the acute phase of COVID-19 without known systemic comorbidities were enrolled in this prospective longitudinal cohort study. Fundus photography, SS-OCT, and SS-OCTA using swept-source OCT (SS-OCT, Topcon DRI OCT Triton; Topcon Corp., Tokyo, Japan) were performed in the COVID-19 unit and 1-year after hospital discharge. The cohort\u2019s median age was 60 years (range 28\u201365) and 18 (60%) were male. Mean vein diameter (MVD) significantly decreased over time, from 134.8 \u03bcm in the acute phase to 112.4 \u03bcm at a 1-year follow-up (p &lt; 0.001). A significantly reduced retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness was observed at follow-up in the inferior quadrant of the inner ring (mean diff. 0.80 95% CI 0.01\u20131.60, p = 0.047) and inferior (mean diff. 1.56 95% CI 0.50\u20132.61, p &lt; 0.001), nasal (mean diff. 2.21 95% CI 1.16\u20133.27, p &lt; 0.001), and superior (mean diff. 1.69 95% CI 0.63\u20132.74, p &lt; 0.001) quadrants of the outer ring. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups regarding vessel density of the superior and deep capillary plexuses. The transient dilatation of the retinal vessels in the acute phase of COVID-19, as well as RNFL thickness changes, could become a biomarker of angiopathy in patients with severe COVID-19.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24044032","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,17]],"date-time":"2023-02-17T01:59:24Z","timestamp":1676599164000},"page":"4032","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["The Comparison of Retinal Microvascular Findings in Acute COVID-19 and 1-Year after Hospital Discharge Assessed with Multimodal Imaging\u2014A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9688-0601","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kristina","family":"Jevnikar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrej","family":"Megli\u010d","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luka","family":"Lapajne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mateja","family":"Logar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nata\u0161a","family":"Vidovi\u010d Valentin\u010di\u010d","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mojca","family":"Globo\u010dnik Petrovi\u010d","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1949-4525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Polona","family":"Jaki Mekjavi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1708","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2002032","article-title":"Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China","volume":"382","author":"Guan","year":"2020","journal-title":"N. 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