Journal of Clinical Medicine (Aug 2022)
Retinal Vascular Occlusion after COVID-19 Vaccination: More Coincidence than Causal Relationship? Data from a Retrospective Multicentre Study
- Nicolas Feltgen,
- Thomas Ach,
- Focke Ziemssen,
- Carolin Sophie Quante,
- Oliver Gross,
- Alaa Din Abdin,
- Sabine Aisenbrey,
- Martin C. Bartram,
- Marcus Blum,
- Claudia Brockmann,
- Stefan Dithmar,
- Wilko Friedrichs,
- Rainer Guthoff,
- Lars-Olof Hattenbach,
- Klaus R. Herrlinger,
- Susanne Kaskel-Paul,
- Ramin Khoramnia,
- Julian E. Klaas,
- Tim U. Krohne,
- Albrecht Lommatzsch,
- Sabine Lueken,
- Mathias Maier,
- Lina Nassri,
- Thien A. Nguyen-Dang,
- Viola Radeck,
- Saskia Rau,
- Johann Roider,
- Dirk Sandner,
- Laura Schmalenberger,
- Irene Schmidtmann,
- Florian Schubert,
- Helena Siegel,
- Martin S. Spitzer,
- Andreas Stahl,
- Julia V. Stingl,
- Felix Treumer,
- Arne Viestenz,
- Joachim Wachtlin,
- Armin Wolf,
- Julian Zimmermann,
- Marc Schargus,
- Alexander K. Schuster
Affiliations
- Nicolas Feltgen
- Clinic of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Goettingen, 37075 Goettingen, Germany
- Thomas Ach
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
- Focke Ziemssen
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Carolin Sophie Quante
- Medical School, University Medical Centre Goettingen, 37075 Goettingen, Germany
- Oliver Gross
- Clinic of Nephrology and Rheumatology, University Medical Centre Goettingen, 37075 Goettingen, Germany
- Alaa Din Abdin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Saarland University Medical Centre UKS, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany
- Sabine Aisenbrey
- Department of Ophthalmology, Vivantes Health Network Ltd., Neukoelln Hospital, 12351 Berlin, Germany
- Martin C. Bartram
- Department of Ophthalmology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
- Marcus Blum
- Department of Ophthalmology, Helios Hospital Erfurt, 99089 Erfurt, Germany
- Claudia Brockmann
- Department of Ophthalmology, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany
- Stefan Dithmar
- Department of Ophthalmology, Helios HSK Wiesbaden, 65191 Wiesbaden, Germany
- Wilko Friedrichs
- Charlottenklinik Ophthalmology, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany
- Rainer Guthoff
- Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, 40225 Dusseldorf, Germany
- Lars-Olof Hattenbach
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ludwigshafen Hospital, 67063 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
- Klaus R. Herrlinger
- Department of Internal Medicine I, Asklepios Klinik Nord, 22417 Hamburg, Germany
- Susanne Kaskel-Paul
- Department of Ophthalmology, Maerkische Kliniken GmbH, 58515 Luedenscheid, Germany
- Ramin Khoramnia
- The David J Apple Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Julian E. Klaas
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 80336 Munich, Germany
- Tim U. Krohne
- Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
- Albrecht Lommatzsch
- Department of Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital, 48145 Muenster, Germany
- Sabine Lueken
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Luebeck, 23538 Luebeck, Germany
- Mathias Maier
- Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany
- Lina Nassri
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany
- Thien A. Nguyen-Dang
- Praxis Prof. Laube, 40212 Duesseldorf, Germany
- Viola Radeck
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Regensburg, 93049 Regensburg, Germany
- Saskia Rau
- Department of Ophthalmology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 13353 Berlin, Germany
- Johann Roider
- Clinic of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel Campus, 24105 Kiel, Germany
- Dirk Sandner
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University of Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Laura Schmalenberger
- Municipal Clinic Braunschweig, 38126 Braunschweig, Germany
- Irene Schmidtmann
- Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Florian Schubert
- Department of Ophthalmology, Phillips University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Helena Siegel
- Eye Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
- Martin S. Spitzer
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
- Andreas Stahl
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
- Julia V. Stingl
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Felix Treumer
- Department of Ophthalmology, Klinikum Kassel, 34125 Kassel, Germany
- Arne Viestenz
- Department of Ophthalmology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
- Joachim Wachtlin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Sankt-Gertrauden Krankenhaus, 10713 Berlin, Germany
- Armin Wolf
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ulm University Medical Centre, 89075 Ulm, Germany
- Julian Zimmermann
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Muenster Medical Centre, 48149 Muenster, Germany
- Marc Schargus
- Asklepios Augenklinik Nord, 22417 Hamburg, Germany
- Alexander K. Schuster
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11175101
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11,
no. 17
p. 5101
Abstract
Background: To investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the onset of retinal vascular occlusive disease (RVOD). Methods: In this multicentre study, data from patients with central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO and BRVO), central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO and BRAO), and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) were retrospectively collected during a 2-month index period (1 June–31 July 2021) according to a defined protocol. The relation to any previous vaccination was documented for the consecutive case series. Numbers of RVOD and COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in a case-by-case analysis. A case–control study using age- and sex-matched controls from the general population (study participants from the Gutenberg Health Study) and an adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results: Four hundred and twenty-one subjects presenting during the index period (61 days) were enrolled: one hundred and twenty-one patients with CRVO, seventy-five with BRVO, fifty-six with CRAO, sixty-five with BRAO, and one hundred and four with AION. Three hundred and thirty-two (78.9%) patients had been vaccinated before the onset of RVOD. The vaccines given were BNT162b2/BioNTech/Pfizer (n = 221), followed by ChadOx1/AstraZeneca (n = 57), mRNA-1273/Moderna (n = 21), and Ad26.COV2.S/Johnson & Johnson (n = 11; unknown n = 22). Our case–control analysis integrating population-based data from the GHS yielded no evidence of an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.60–1.45, p = 0.75) in connection with a vaccination within a 4-week window. Conclusions: To date, there has been no evidence of any association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and a higher RVOD risk.
Keywords
- retinal vein occlusion
- retinal artery occlusion
- anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy
- infection
- vaccination
- SARS-CoV-2