Retinal Vasculitis Following COVID-19 Vaccination: Causation or Coincidence?

Ocul Immunol Inflamm. 2023 Aug;31(6):1283-1285. doi: 10.1080/09273948.2023.2176887. Epub 2023 Feb 17.

Abstract

Background: With the popularity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination, some rare ocular adverse events have gradually been reported. This report shows a rare case of retinal vasculitis following COVID-19 vaccination.

Description: A 37-year-old male complained of unilateral severe vision loss 13 days after the first dose of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. The initial eye examination showed gray-white edema in the macula, and scattered patchy gray-white lesions in the peripheral retina, accompanied by peripheral retinal small vessel occlusion. After glucocorticoid treatment, the gray-white lesions gradually subsided. However, due to the initial severe damage in the fundus, macular and peripheral retinal lesions were significantly atrophied, and the vision recovery was poor.

Conclusion: The ocular adverse event in this report may be related to the inactivated COVID-19 vaccination, however, it is difficult to rule out the accidental rare adverse events after a large number of vaccinations.

Keywords: COVID-19; retinal vasculitis; vaccination; vaccine; vision loss.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • COVID-19 Vaccines* / adverse effects
  • COVID-19* / complications
  • Fluorescein Angiography
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Retina / pathology
  • Retinal Vasculitis* / diagnosis
  • Retinal Vasculitis* / etiology
  • Vaccination / adverse effects

Substances

  • COVID-19 Vaccines