Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination: a multinational case series

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination: a multinational case series

AU - Testi, Ilaria

AU - Brandão-de-Resende, Camilo

AU - Agrawal, Rupesh

AU - Pavesio, Carlos

AU - COVID-19 Vaccination Ocular Inflammatory Events Study Group

AU - Stübiger, Nicole

N1 - © 2021. The Author(s).

PY - 2022/1/4

Y1 - 2022/1/4

N2 - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination are being reported amidst the growing concerns regarding vaccine's immunogenicity and safety, especially in patients with pre-existing inflammatory conditions.METHODS: Multinational case series of patients diagnosed with an ocular inflammatory event within 14 days following COVID-19 vaccination collected from 40 centres over a 3 month period in 2021.RESULTS: Seventy patients presented with ocular inflammatory events within 14 days following COVID-19 vaccination. The mean age was 51 years (range, 19-84 years). The most common events were anterior uveitis (n = 41, 58.6%), followed by posterior uveitis (n = 9, 12.9%) and scleritis (n = 7, 10.0%). The mean time to event was 5 days and 6 days (range, 1-14 days) after the first and second dose of vaccine, respectively. Among all patients, 36 (54.1%) had a previous history of ocular inflammatory event. Most patients (n = 48, 68.6%) were managed with topical corticosteroids. Final vision was not affected in 65 (92.9%), whereas 2 (2.9%) and 3 (4.3%) had reduction in visual acuity reduced by ≤3 lines and > 3 lines, respectively. Reported complications included nummular corneal lesions (n = 1, 1.4%), cystoid macular oedema (n = 2, 2.9%) and macular scarring (n = 2, 2.9%).CONCLUSION: Ocular inflammatory events may occur after COVID-19 vaccination. The findings are based on a temporal association that does not prove causality. Even in the possibility of a causal association, most of the events were mild and had a good visual outcome.

AB - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination are being reported amidst the growing concerns regarding vaccine's immunogenicity and safety, especially in patients with pre-existing inflammatory conditions.METHODS: Multinational case series of patients diagnosed with an ocular inflammatory event within 14 days following COVID-19 vaccination collected from 40 centres over a 3 month period in 2021.RESULTS: Seventy patients presented with ocular inflammatory events within 14 days following COVID-19 vaccination. The mean age was 51 years (range, 19-84 years). The most common events were anterior uveitis (n = 41, 58.6%), followed by posterior uveitis (n = 9, 12.9%) and scleritis (n = 7, 10.0%). The mean time to event was 5 days and 6 days (range, 1-14 days) after the first and second dose of vaccine, respectively. Among all patients, 36 (54.1%) had a previous history of ocular inflammatory event. Most patients (n = 48, 68.6%) were managed with topical corticosteroids. Final vision was not affected in 65 (92.9%), whereas 2 (2.9%) and 3 (4.3%) had reduction in visual acuity reduced by ≤3 lines and > 3 lines, respectively. Reported complications included nummular corneal lesions (n = 1, 1.4%), cystoid macular oedema (n = 2, 2.9%) and macular scarring (n = 2, 2.9%).CONCLUSION: Ocular inflammatory events may occur after COVID-19 vaccination. The findings are based on a temporal association that does not prove causality. Even in the possibility of a causal association, most of the events were mild and had a good visual outcome.

U2 - 10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x

DO - 10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 34982290

VL - 12

JO - J OPHTHALMIC INFLAMM

JF - J OPHTHALMIC INFLAMM

SN - 1869-5760

IS - 1

M1 - 4

ER -