Early and Late-Stage Ocular Complications of Herpes Zoster Ophthalmic in Saudi Arabia

To describe the spectrum of ocular complications of HZO and to distinguish between early- and late-stage ocular complications. A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out on patients who were diagnosed with ocular complications from herpes zoster in both the early and late stages. Patients who passed three months from the last eye examination were collected for re-examination in the Optometry Clinic, College of Science Applied Medical for the detection of late-stage complications of herpes zoster disease using a visual acuity chart (VA), lamp examination, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The study proved that there is a positive statistically significant relationship regarding early eye complications versus complications in the late stage of herpes zoster with age (P = 0.004). According to the gender that suffers from complications and early visual complications in the late stage of herpes zoster, there is no statistical significance at (P = 0.513). Moreover, there was no statistically significant relationship regarding the time between the onset of ophthalmic complaints and their presentation to the ophthalmology outpatient clinic with the early stage regarding eye complications and the complications in the late stage at (P = 0.576). The study concluded there is an association between advanced age and increased early eye complications vs. complications in the late stage. In addition, there was no relationship between sex and those with early ocular complications in the late stage of herpes zoster.