SIGNIFICANCE: Systemic thromboembolic complications are well documented to be associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), however, there has been a growing number of reports regarding ocular complications stemming from COVID-19 vaccinations. This case illustrates a clear temporal and possible causal relationship of COVID-19 vaccination with an ocular microvascular disorder, namely retinal vein occlusion.
PURPOSE: To report a case of inferotemporal branch retinal vein occlusion after mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
CASE REPORT: A middle-aged female developed right eye central scotoma two days after COVID-19 vaccination. She had transient hypertension during the first two days post-vaccination. A decrease in visual acuity (6/18) was documented. Initial retinal findings included flame-shaped hemorrhages and cotton wool spots along inferotemporal branch retinal vessels. Optical coherence tomography revealed right eye cystoid macular edema. Laboratory investigation revealed mildly raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein . Other systemic examinations were unremarkable. She was treated for right eye inferotemporal branch retinal vein occlusion with cystoid macular edema and was given intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor monthly in three doses. Her visual acuity improved to 6/6 with resolved cystoid macular edema.
CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates a clear temporal and possible causal relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and retinal vein occlusion. Post vaccination transient hypertension, or the immunological and inflammatory response to the vaccine may have contributed to the venous occlusive event in this case. Eye care providers should remain aware of this possibility. The effectiveness of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth for the treatment of macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion was demonstrated in this patient.
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.