Abstract

The new coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 has disrupted all aspects of medical care around the world. Ophthalmology practices have also been affected by this pandemic all over the world. Due to this pandemic, new regulations were introduced in ophthalmology for patient examinations and surgical practice. Ophthalmologic procedures requiring close examination and physical contact have been reported to pose a high risk for SARSCoV-2 transmission for ophthalmologists. Guidelines on measures to prevent the risk of contamination related to COVID-19 have been published in this regard, and it was stated that all treatments should be stopped, except for emergency situations. The number of patients has been reduced. It was recommended to pay attention to examination rooms and sterilization of instruments and devices. It was recommended to provide personal protective equipment during examinations, to make these examinations as short as possible focusing on diagnosis. Non-urgent procedures were postponed. In addition, breathing shields were placed on biomicroscopes to protect against contamination. In an assessment of the American Society of Retina Specialists, it was reported that a significant percentage of retinal patients were at risk of vision loss and required regular intravitreal injection therapy. At the same time, the age range of this patient group has become one of the special groups because it is included the age range above 65 years of age, which is defined as the age range at higher risk of the COVID-19 epidemic worldwide. Also these patients were found to be the group at risk for higher mortality and morbidity in this epidemic due to the prevalence of other pre-existing systemic diseases. Among these patients in the risky group, there were those who did not want to come to the hospital with their own requests, those whose treatment was disrupted, and therefore also experienced vision loss. The patients were recommended to continue their treatment and their treatments were carried out in order to prevent vision loss, by arranging examination and operating rooms in a way that the patients were least likely to be exposed to contamination. It is important to plan the treatment and follow-up of the patients in a way that minimizes the risk of contamination as much as possible and at the same time considering the situations that require emergency treatment. These are some of the ethical issues I will discuss.