Neuro-Ophthalmological Complications of the COVID-19 Vaccines: A Systematic Review

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Title Neuro-Ophthalmological Complications of the COVID-19 Vaccines: A Systematic Review
Creator Itay Lotan; Melissa Lydston; Michael Levy
Affiliation Department of Neurology (IL, ML), Division of Neuroimmunology and Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and Treadwell Virtual Library for the Massachusetts General Hospital (ML), Boston, Massachusetts.
Abstract Background: A worldwide mass vaccination campaign against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is currently underway. Although the safety data of the clinical trials did not report specific concerns regarding neuro-ophthalmological adverse events, they involved a limited number of individuals and were conducted over a relatively short time. The aim of the current review is to summarize the available postmarketing data regarding the occurrence of neuro-ophthalmological and other ocular complications of the COVID-19 vaccines. Evidence acquisition: Electronic searches for published literature were conducted using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and ClinicalTrials.gov. The search strategy incorporated controlled vocabulary and free-text synonyms for the concepts of COVID, vaccines, and visual and neuro-ophthalmologic diseases and symptoms. Results: A total of 14 case reports and 2 case series have been selected for inclusion in the final report, reporting 76 cases of post-COVID-vaccination adverse events. The most common adverse event was optic neuritis (n = 61), followed by uveitis (n = 3), herpes zoster ophthalmicus (n = 2), acute macular neuroretinopathy (n = 2), optic disc edema as an atypical presentation of Guillain-Barré syndrome (n = 1), (arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; n = 1), abducens nerve palsy (n = 1), oculomotor nerve palsy (n = 1), Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (n = 1), central serous retinopathy (n = 1), acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (n = 1), and bilateral choroiditis (n = 1). Most cases were treated with high-dose steroids and had a favorable clinical outcome. Conclusion: Since the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the past year, several post-COVID-vaccination neuro-ophthalmological complications have been described. However, considering the number of individuals that have been exposed to the vaccines, the risk seems very low, and the clinical outcome in most cases is favorable. Therefore, on a population level, the benefits of the vaccines far outweigh the risk of neuro-ophthalmological complications.
Subject COVID-19; Vaccines; Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus; Pandemics
OCR Text Show
Date 2022-06
Language eng
Format application/pdf
Type Text
Publication Type Journal Article
Source Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, June 2023, Volume 43, Issue 2
Collection Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education Library: Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology Archives: https://novel.utah.edu/jno/
Publisher Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Holding Institution Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah
Rights Management © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society
ARK ark:/87278/s6b365zn
Setname ehsl_novel_jno
ID 2307896
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6b365zn
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