Post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) is a multifactorial disorder comprising
different subgroups. Our study aimed to investigate the longitudinal
changes in retinal microcirculation in PCS patients. Eighty PCS patients
were recruited at the Department of Ophthalmology at the
Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Retinal
microcirculation was measured twice using optical coherence tomography
angiography (OCT-A) within the superficial vascular plexus (SVP),
intermediate capillary plexus (ICP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and
peripapillary region. Vessel density (VD) was calculated using the
Erlangen Angio Tool with an APSified and Bruch’s membrane opening-based
analyses. The least-squares means (LS-Means) of VD were 30.4 (SE =
0.168) vs. 30.3 (SE = 0.166) (SVP), 22.4 (SE = 0.143) vs. 22.2 (SE =
0.141) (ICP), 23.9 (SE = 0.186) vs. 23.8 (SE = 0.185) (DCP), and 27.4
(SE = 0.226) vs. 27.0 (SE = 0.224) (peripapillary) in patients with PCS
at visits 1 and 2, respectively. The study cohort showed physically
stable PCS symptoms with PEM/fatigue and concentration disorders as
major symptoms and only a slight, clinically irrelevant improvement of
the Bell Score. The multivariate longitudinal model confirmed the
clinical observations by showing that VD did not change significantly
during follow-up (p = 0.46). Strong interdependencies between the macular layers (p
< 0.001) were observed. The data of the present study suggests that
while overall APSified macular VD and BMO-based APSified peripapillary
VD were stable within a PCS cohort of physically stable PCS symptoms,
individual patients may experience coordinated microvascular changes,
particularly within the macular plexuses. Together, the results support a
model of heterogeneous yet biologically consistent microvascular
response in PCS pathophysiology.