Bilateral acute macular neuroretinopathy in a young woman after the first dose of Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral acute macular neuroretinopathy following the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccine in a young, Caucasian, and healthy woman. Observations: A 25-year-old Caucasian female patient presented to the ophthalmology department of Dijon University Hospital with a 3-week history of black spots and paracentral scotoma in both eyes. She had no past medical history and was using the combined estrogen-progestin oral contraceptive (COC). These symptoms occurred 24 h after receiving the first Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination dose. The ophthalmologic signs were preceded a few hours earlier by fever and flu-like symptoms. Ophthalmologic examination revealed a preserved visual acuity with a quiet anterior segment and normal fundus in both eyes. Findings on multimodal retinal imaging, particularly near-infrared reflectance (NIR) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging, were classical of an acute macular neuroretinopathy in both eyes. Conclusions and importance: COVID-19 vaccination is justified as an essential public health measure. Acute macular neuroretinopathy may occur in patient receiving a COVID-19 vaccination dose. Further reports are needed to confirm this association. Physicians should be aware of this complication and request an eye examination with at least OCT or NIR imaging in the case of any visual symptoms after vaccination, notably in young women using COC.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Vaccination
• Acute macular neuroretinopathy
• AMN
• Side effect