{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T22:09:25Z","timestamp":1767650965029,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,16]],"date-time":"2022-05-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652659200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vision"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Endothelial cells damage and thromboinflammation are considered key elements in the generation of organ impairment in patients with COVID-19 disease. The endothelial function is evaluated by measuring flow-mediated dilation (FMD). We aimed to analyze the association between FMD impairment and retinal vascular parameters in early post-COVID-19 patients. 00118-00199Tomography (OCT), OCT Angiography (OCTA) and slit lamp examination were performed. FMD \u2264 7% was considered as pathological. Our primary outcome was to assess potential differences in the radial peripapillary capillary plexus flow index (RPCP-FI) and RPCP density (RPCP-D) values between post-COVID-19 patients with and without FMD impairment. The associations of other retinal vascular parameters with FMD impairment were assessed as secondary endpoints. Results: FMD impairment was detected in 31 patients (37.8%). RPCP-FI (p = 0.047), age (p = 0.048) and prevalence of diabetes (p = 0.046) significantly differed in patients with FMD \u2264 7% in regression analysis. RPCP-FI was linearly correlated with FMD values (R = 0.244, p =0.027). SCT was found to be lower in patients with impaired FMD (p = 0.004), although this difference was only a trend in binary logistic regression output (p = 0.07). Conclusions: Early post-COVID-19 patients showed a higher prevalence of FMD impairment compared to the general population. Age, diabetes and RPCP-FI were independently correlated with the presence of endothelial impairment in the early post-infective period.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vision6020026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,16]],"date-time":"2022-05-16T21:36:06Z","timestamp":1652736966000},"page":"26","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Radial Peripapillary Capillary Plexus Perfusion and Endothelial Dysfunction in Early Post-SARS-CoV-2 Infection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1397-4333","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Cristina","family":"Savastano","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3614-7314","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Santoro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University of Rome, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9996-9871","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuele","family":"Crincoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9474-0517","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claudia","family":"Fossataro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gloria","family":"Gambini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1575-6567","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alfonso","family":"Savastano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Umberto","family":"De Vico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Angelo","family":"Santoliquido","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore School of Medicine, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Nesci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore School of Medicine, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Landi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Geriatrics, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore School of Medicine, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stanislao","family":"Rizzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ophthalmology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University \u201cSacro Cuore\u201d, 00118-00199 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Neuroscienze, 56121-56128 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"name":"on behalf of Gemelli against COVID-19 Post-Acute Care Study Group","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1186\/s12575-020-00128-2","article-title":"A comprehensive review of COVID-19 characteristics","volume":"22","author":"Esakandari","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biol. Proced. Online"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"WHO (2022). Weekly Epidemiological Update on COVID-19, WHO. 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