A comparative analysis of retinal vascular occlusions before and during the covid – 19 pandemic – a retrospective observational study

Objective: This study aims to compare the incidence of retinal vascular occlusions, before and during the pandemic at a tertiary care hospital. Method: A retrospective, record based, observational study of all newly diagnosed cases of vascular occlusions was conducted for a period of four years between May 2018 and April 2022 of a Tertiary Care Center. The study period was divided into two phases – the pre-COVID period (May 2018 - April 2020) and the Pandemic period (May 2020 - April 2022). The study analyzed the demography, changes in incidence and visual prognosis of the patients. Results: In our study the incidence of all Retinal vascular occlusions (RVO) increased significantly during the pandemic period (P=0.00095). The chi-square test shows a P value of <0.0001and OR of 8.75 showing a high risk of vascular occlusions with COVID. Conclusion: The study found an overall increase in the incidence of vascular occlusions. Notably, it revealed that even younger patients without underlying co-morbidities, suffered from RVOs.