Incidence and surgical care of retinal detachment during the first SARS-CoV-2 lockdown period at a tertiary referral center in Austria.

• Main Authors: Markus Schranz, Michael Georgopoulos, Stefan Sacu, Adrian Reumueller, Gregor S Reiter, Georgios Mylonas, Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth, Andreas Pollreisz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248010

<h4>Purpose</h4>To assess the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown in spring on frequency, severity and quality of care of rhegmatogeneous retinal detachments (RRD) in a tertiary referral center in Vienna, Austria.<h4>Methods</h4>Single center, consecutive case series with historical controls. Patients presenting with primary RRD during the first Austrian SARS-CoV-2 lockdown (March 16th-May 3rd 2020) and a corresponding control group consisting of the same time period of the preceding 3 years.<h4>Results</h4>The mean number of patients with RD in the reference group (RG) was 22 (± 1) and in the lockdown group (LG) 15. Median total delay, defined as onset of symptoms until surgery, in the RG was 5 (lower quartile: 3.0; upper quartile: 8.0) compared to 7 (3.0; 12.0) days in the LG, (p = 0.740). During the lockdown 67% of patients were referred from an external ophthalmologist compared to 52% in the RG, (p = 0.395). 34% of patients in the RG presented with an attached macula compared to 33% in the LG (p = 0.597). PVR was present in 49% of cases in the RG compared to 73% in the LG. Single surgery success (SSS) rates were lower in the LG (73.3%) compared to the RG (85.3%), (p = 0.275).<h4>Conclusion</h4>Patients with RRD during the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown presented and were treated within acceptable time limits, showed the same macula-on ratios but a higher PVR rate and a tendency towards worse SSS rates compared to the time period of the preceding 3 years.