Background: The involvement of retina and its vasculature has been recently described in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, none of the previous works have yet investigated the choroid in vivo. Objective: Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and enhanced depth imaging (EDI) technique is non-invasively used to assess choroidal thickness in patients with AD and to determine whether the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and central retinal thickness are reduced compared to normal subjects. Methods: Forty-two eyes of 21 patients (mean age, 73.1 ± 6.9 years) with a diagnosis of mild to moderate AD and 42 eyes of 21 age-matched control subjects (mean age, 70.3 ± 7.3 years) were included in this prospective, cross-sectional study. All the subjects underwent neuropsychological (MMSE, ADAS-Cog, and CDR) and ophthalmological evaluation. The SD-OCT images of the choroid were obtained by EDI modality. Choroidal thickness was assessed by manual measurement. The following parameters, measured automatically by the OCT software, were also analyzed for each eye: 1-mm central subfield (CSF) retinal thickness, peripapillary RNFL thickness. Results: Choroidal thickness was significantly thinner in AD than in control eyes (p < 0.05). No difference in CSF retinal thickness was found between groups (p > 0.05). Mean peripapillary RNFL thickness in all four quadrants was similar between groups (p > 0.05). OCT measurements were not correlated with any of the tested psychometric parameters (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with healthy subjects, patients with AD showed a significant reduction in choroidal thickness. Choroidal thinning may represent an adjunctive biomarker for the diagnosis and follow-up of this disease.

Purpose: To correlate the postoperative visual outcome with the spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings in the fovea after successful rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair. Cross-sectional, observational study. Methods: Thirty-five patients with preoperative macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (12 eyes) and macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (23 eyes) who underwent scleral buckling surgery for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment were recruited. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study best-corrected visual acuity measurement, microperimetry, and SD-OCT examination were performed on the same day. Foveal center retinal thickness, central 1-mm subfield thickness, and outer nuclear layer thickness were measured using SD-OCT. The presence or absence of epiretinal membrane, intraretinal fluid, and subretinal fluid was assessed. The status of the external limiting membrane, inner/outer segment junction, and intermediate line was also evaluated and judged as disrupted or complete. The correlations between SD-OCT findings and either postoperative best-corrected visual acuity or retinal sensitivities for central 12° were analyzed. Results: The outer nuclear layer thickness was the only significant SD-OCT retinal measurement strongly correlated with both postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (r = 0.61; P < 0.001) and retinal sensitivities for central 12° (r = 0.53; P = 0.001). Among the SD-OCT imaging findings, status of the external limiting membrane, inner/outer segment junction, and intermediate line and the presence of intraretinal fluid showed a significantly high correlation either with best-corrected visual acuity outcome (r = −0.60; P < 0.001, r = −0.63; P < 0.001, r = −0.66; P < 0.001, and r = −0.50; P = 0.002, respectively) or with postoperative retinal sensitivities (r = −0.59; P < 0.001, r = −0.61; P < 0.001, r = −0.66; P < 0.001, r = −0.50; P = 0.002, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that the outer nuclear layer thickness and the status of the intermediate line were the most important predictors of visual outcome (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: This study showed that not only the status of the external limiting membrane and the inner/outer segment junction but also the integrity of the intermediate line and the outer nuclear layer thickness changes may be important predictors of postoperative visual outcome after anatomically successful rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair.

Changes in immune and coagulation systems and possible viral spread through the blood–brain barrier have been described in SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we evaluated the possible retinal involvement and ocular findings in severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 46 patients affected by severe COVID-19 who were hospitalized in one intensive care unit (ICU) and in two infectious disease wards, including bedside eye screening, corneal sensitivity assessment and retinography. A total of 43 SARS-CoV-2-positive pneumonia patients affected with COVID-19 pneumonia were included, including 25 males and 18 females, with a median age of 70 years [IQR 59–78]. Except for one patient with unilateral posterior chorioretinitis of opportunistic origin, of whom aqueous tap was negative for SARS-CoV-2, no further retinal manifestation related to COVID-19 infection was found in our cohort. We found 3 patients (7%) with bilateral conjunctivitis in whom PCR analysis on conjunctival swabs provided negative results for SARS-CoV-2. No alterations in corneal sensitivity were found. We demonstrated the absence of retinal involvement in SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia patients. Ophthalmologic evaluation in COVID-19, particularly in patients hospitalized in an ICU setting, may be useful to reveal systemic co-infections by opportunistic pathogens.