Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in tears of patients with and without ocular symptoms in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. Methods: The prospective observational study conducted on 60 consecutive SARS-CoV-2 positive patients with ocular complaints was compared with 60 controls who had no ocular manifestations. The tear samples were taken within 48 h of admission from both the eyes of the enrolled patients for evaluating the presence SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results: Eleven cases (18.33%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in tears on RT-PCR from cojunctival swab compared to 10 (16.66%) controls. The difference was not statistical significant. The difference between mean age of patients who tested positive or negative was also without statistical significance ( P = 0.652), but the difference between patients who tested positive or negative by conjunctival swab for SARS-CoV-2 was statistically significant in terms of severity of COVID-19 disease ( P = 0.0011), presence of comorbidity ( P = 0.0015), mean TLC ( P = 0.00498), and mean d dimer ( P = 0.00465). Conclusion: Though the percentage of patients with positive RT PCR from conjunctival secretions is significantly less than nasopharyngeal swabs, potential risk of transmission of SARS-Co-2 through tears cannot be ruled out. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 can be present in tears irrespective of ocular involvement.

Purpose: To evaluate and correlate corneal endothelium parameters with the severity of primary glaucoma. Methods: This prospective case-control study was conducted on 150 eyes of 80 newly diagnosed primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma (cPACG), and normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients in a tertiary care center. Endothelial parameters including endothelial cell count (ECC), percentage of hexagonal cells, and coefficient of variation of cell size were analyzed. Glaucoma cases were further sub-grouped into early, moderate, and severe glaucoma and compared for endothelial parameters. Chi-square, Fischer’s exact test, independent sample t -test, and analysis of variance were performed using IBM ® SPSS ® Statistics version 28. Results: The ECC was markedly reduced in cases (2281 cells/mm 2 ) versus controls (2611 cells/mm 2 ) ( P < 0.001). The POAG (2251 cells/mm 2 ) and cPACG (2287 cells/mm 2 ) eyes had significantly a lower ECC compared to healthy controls ( P < 0.001), whereas NTG eyes had a lower mean ECC (2538 cells/mm 2 ), but it was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05) when compared with controls. The ECC decreased with an increase in severity as patients with early glaucoma had an ECC of 2284 cells/mm 2 , moderate 2261 cells/mm 2 , and severe 2086 cells/mm 2 , and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: A significant decrease in corneal ECC was observed in POAG and cPACG patients when compared with healthy controls of the same age group. Mechanical damage following an elevated intra-ocular pressure for a longer duration may be attributed to morphological and consequent functional damage to endothelial cells.

PURPOSE: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARSCoV2) can affect eyes in various forms. Furthermore, ocular surface can act as potential port of entry and ocular secretions as possible route of transmission of SARSCoV2. The aims of the study are to identify ocular manifestation in confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) patients and to evaluate conjunctival secretions as the possible route of transmission of this disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, populationbased, observational study was done. Ocular symptoms and signs of every hospitalized patient with SARSCoV2 infection between September 15, 2020, and November 15, 2020, were recorded. Tear samples of the first 60 participants (30 each of patients with severe and moderate illness, can be removed) with ocular manifestations were selected for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science Software (SPSS) program, version 23. When comparing mean values, ttest was used otherwise Chisquare test. RESULTS: Out of 804 admitted patients during study period, 309 (38.4%) patients were identified with ocular manifestations, out of which 78% (241) had conjunctival hyperemia, 65.6% (203) had follicular reaction in palpebral conjunctiva, 58% (180) had chemosis, and 58% (99) had discharge and 18.4% (57) complained of burning in their eyes. Mean duration from systemic manifestation to onset of ocular symptoms was 4.52 ± 1.47 days while 8 patients (1%) had conjunctivitis as the presenting symptom. SARSCoV2 was detected in 18.3% patients (11 out of 60) using RTPCR. CONCLUSION: The presence of SARSCoV2 in ocular secretions of patients with ocular manifestations suggests that COVID19infected patients with ocular manifestations should wear protective glasses to prevent secretions contamination to healthy persons.

Purpose: Ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has globally affected training, skills and mental health of ophthalmology residents. This prospective, population based observational study was done to study the effect of COVID-19 on ophthalmology resident's education and mental health. Methods and Materials: 37-questions web-based survey was circulated amongst ophthalmology residents studying in North India between 1st to 30th April 2021. Questions comprised of their demographic prole, concerns regarding their training and skills and effect of COVID -19 on their mental health. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 for MAC (SPSS Inc.) Chi-square test was used to determine the level of signicance. Ap value of < 0.05 was considered statistically signicant. Results: 52.1% of residents believed that COVID-19 had a severe impact on Post Graduate teaching program. 77.3% believed that appropriate measures were not taken to preserve effectiveness of their training. 94.7% of the residents opined that there was decrease in surgical exposure. 86.08% of residents thought there would be a dip in opportunities for international fellowships after nishing their course. 67.6% residents reported their deployment in COVID care wards out of which 73.9% residents had fear of getting infected with COVID-19. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has signicantly affected the personal and professional life of the ophthalmology residents. Their mental stress on variable issues needs to be addressed and solved on priority basis so that a healthier workforce is formed to ght against a pandemic like situation in future.