Treating retinal diseases by optical coherence tomography alone during COVID-19 lockdown.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of managing retinal diseases by OCT exam alone due to COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment course of nAMD, DME and RVO patients, and compare it with real-life data. Methods: A comparison between patients whose treatment was based on OCT alone during COVID-19 lockdown limitations and patients who visited the retina unit one year before. Recorded parameters included demographic data, visual acuity, OCT characteristics, number of anti VEGF injections to each eye before the COVID-19 visit, referral for intravitreal injections, number of injections and anti-VEGF drugs administered. Results: A total of 165 eyes of 133 patients were included in the study group, and 189 eyes of 145 patients in the control group. Both groups had similar baseline characteristics. Patients in the study group were referred to more anti VEGF injections than the control group (71.5% of patient’s vs 41.8, p<0.0001) final visual acuity was better in the study group, but although this difference achieved statistical significance (p=0.037), it was a small change not likely to be clinically significant. The differences in CMT and volume changes were also not significant. Conclusion: Treating patients with nAMD, CME due to RVO or DME with anti VEGF injections according to OCT imaging alone did not harm patients, and achieved satisfactory results. Adoption of this treatment regimen can be considered also for patients live in remote areas. Keywords: COVID-19, Retina, AMD, RVO, DME, OCT. Abbreviations: Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO), Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).