Tonic Pupil Following COVID-19

A 37-year-old patient presented to our emergency department with sudden onset decreased vision with a history of being treated for COVID 19 3 weeks earlier. On examination, she was found to have a tonic right pupil, which was confirmed with a dilute pilocarpine test. As tonic pupils are known to be caused by neurotropic viruses and our current understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 is that it does affect the nervous system, we feel that the tonic pupil in our patient may be secondary to COVID 19.

Automated summary

A 37-year-old patient presented to the emergency department with sudden onset decreased vision and had a history of being treated for COVID-19. Examination revealed a tonic right pupil, possibly secondary to COVID-19 as it is known to affect the nervous system.