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

for the COVID-19 Vaccination Ocular Inflammatory Events Study Group

doi:10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x

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

for the COVID-19 Vaccination Ocular Inflammatory Events Study Group

Ophthalmology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	4
Journal	Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x
State	Published - Dec 2022

Funding

We would like to acknowledge the International Ocular Inflammation Society (IOIS) and International Uveitis Study Group (IUSG) for supporting the project. The COVID-19 Vaccination Ocular Inflammatory Events Study Group members are: Laura Steeples, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Manchester, UK; Balini Balasubramaniam, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK; Peter McCluskey, The University of Sydney, Save Sight Institute, Sydney, Australia; Francesco Pichi, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, UAE; Aniruddha Agarwal, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, UAE; Carl Herbort, COS, Lausanne, Switzerland; Luca Cimino, Arcispedale S. Maria Nuova, Reggio Emila, Italy; Salam Iriqat, St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel; Jennifer E. Thorne, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Jose Echegaray, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, USA; Kalpana Babu, Prabha eye clinic and research centre & Vittala Institute of Ophthalmology, Bangalore, India; Alexander Arthur Bialasiewicz, Al-Ahli Hospital, Doha, Qatar; Debra A. Goldstein, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Nima Ghadiri, Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK; Alex Fonollosa Calduch, Hospital Universitario Cruces, Universidad del País Vasco, Instituto Oftalmológico Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain; Gabriel Costa de Andrade; Padmamalini Mahendradas, Narayana Nethralaya, Bangalore, India; Julio J González-López, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain; Ester Carreño, Hospital Universitario Fundacion Jimenez Diaz, Madrid, Spain; Rola N Hamam, American University of Beirut, Lebanon; Nicole Stübiger, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Augenklinik, Germany; Bahram Bodaghi, Sorbonne Université, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France; Yu-Jang Chao, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Masaru Takeuchi, National Defense Medical College, Namiki Tokorozawa Saitama, Japan; Mei-Ling Tay-Kearney, Lions Eye Institute, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, USA; Alejandro Portero, Hospital Universitario La Zarzuela, Madrid, Spain; Hiroshi Keino, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Padmamalini Mahendradas, Narayana Nethralaya, Bangalore; Mar Esteban-Ortega, Hospital Infanta Sofia, San Sebastian de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain; Joanna Przeździecka-Dołyk, Wrocław Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland; Aleksandra Radosavljević, University Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia; Ian Paredes, Legaspi Eye Center, Legaspi, Bicol, Philippines and Chua Eye Center, Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines; Rupesh Agrawal, National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Ho Su Ling, National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Wei Kiong, National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Melissa Tien, National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Xin Le Ng, National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Carlos Pavesio, Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Ilaria Testi, Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Soon Phaik Chee, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; Jay Siak, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; Ines Hernanz-Rodriguez, Hospital Universitario Fundacion Jimenez Diaz, Madrid, Spain; Victor Menezo, Institut Catala de Retina, Barcelona, Spain; Christoph Tappeiner, Department of Ophthalmology, Pallas Kliniken, Olten, Switzerland; Franz Marie Cruz, Peregrine Eye and Laser Institute, Makati, Philippines; Peter Addison, London, UK; Robert Kuijpers, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium; Daniel Vitor Vasconcelos-Santos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Keywords

COVID-19
Coronavirus disease
Immunomodulatory
Ocular inflammation
SARS-CoV-2
Uveitis
Vaccination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ophthalmology
Infectious Diseases

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x

Cite this

@article{ff1fb7912ba74012a953293a0dc0cb55,

title = "Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination: a multinational case series",

abstract = "Background: Inflammatory adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination are being reported amidst the growing concerns regarding vaccine{\textquoteright}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.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Coronavirus disease, Immunomodulatory, Ocular inflammation, SARS-CoV-2, Uveitis, Vaccination",

author = "{for the COVID-19 Vaccination Ocular Inflammatory Events Study Group} and Ilaria Testi and Camilo Brand{\~a}o-de-Resende and Rupesh Agrawal and Carlos Pavesio and Laura Steeples and Balini Balasubramaniam and Peter McCluskey and Francesco Pichi and Aniruddha Agarwal and Carl Herbort and Luca Cimino and Salam Iriqat and Thorne, {Jennifer E.} and Jose Echegaray and Kalpana Babu and Bialasiewicz, {Alexander Arthur} and Goldstein, {Debra A.} and Nima Ghadiri and Calduch, {Alex Fonollosa} and Andrade, {Gabriel Costa de} and Padmamalini Mahendradas and Gonz{\'a}lez-L{\'o}pez, {Julio J.} and Ester Carre{\~n}o and Hamam, {Rola N.} and Nicole St{\"u}biger and Bahram Bodaghi and Chao, {Yu Jang} and Masaru Takeuchi and Tay-Kearney, {Mei Ling} and Alejandro Portero and Hiroshi Keino and Mar Esteban-Ortega and Joanna Przezdziecka-Dolyk and Aleksandra Radosavljevic and Ian Paredes and Ling, {Ho Su} and Wei Kiong and Melissa Tien and Ng, {Xin Le} and Carlos Pavesio and Chee, {Soon Phaik} and Jay Siak and Ines Hernanz-Rodriguez and Victor Menezo and Christoph Tappeiner and Cruz, {Franz Marie} and Peter Addison and Robert Kuijpers and Vasconcelos-Santos, {Daniel Vitor}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "12",

journal = "Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection",

issn = "1869-5760",

publisher = "Springer Verlag",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ocular inflammatory events following COVID-19 vaccination

T2 - a multinational case series

AU - for the COVID-19 Vaccination Ocular Inflammatory Events Study Group

AU - Testi, Ilaria

AU - Brandão-de-Resende, Camilo

AU - Agrawal, Rupesh

AU - Pavesio, Carlos

AU - Steeples, Laura

AU - Balasubramaniam, Balini

AU - McCluskey, Peter

AU - Pichi, Francesco

AU - Agarwal, Aniruddha

AU - Herbort, Carl

AU - Cimino, Luca

AU - Iriqat, Salam

AU - Thorne, Jennifer E.

AU - Echegaray, Jose

AU - Babu, Kalpana

AU - Bialasiewicz, Alexander Arthur

AU - Goldstein, Debra A.

AU - Ghadiri, Nima

AU - Calduch, Alex Fonollosa

AU - Andrade, Gabriel Costa de

AU - Mahendradas, Padmamalini

AU - González-López, Julio J.

AU - Carreño, Ester

AU - Hamam, Rola N.

AU - Stübiger, Nicole

AU - Bodaghi, Bahram

AU - Chao, Yu Jang

AU - Takeuchi, Masaru

AU - Tay-Kearney, Mei Ling

AU - Portero, Alejandro

AU - Keino, Hiroshi

AU - Esteban-Ortega, Mar

AU - Przezdziecka-Dolyk, Joanna

AU - Radosavljevic, Aleksandra

AU - Paredes, Ian

AU - Ling, Ho Su

AU - Kiong, Wei

AU - Tien, Melissa

AU - Ng, Xin Le

AU - Pavesio, Carlos

AU - Chee, Soon Phaik

AU - Siak, Jay

AU - Hernanz-Rodriguez, Ines

AU - Menezo, Victor

AU - Tappeiner, Christoph

AU - Cruz, Franz Marie

AU - Addison, Peter

AU - Kuijpers, Robert

AU - Vasconcelos-Santos, Daniel Vitor

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

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.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Coronavirus disease

KW - Immunomodulatory

KW - Ocular inflammation

KW - SARS-CoV-2

KW - Uveitis

KW - Vaccination

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U2 - 10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x

DO - 10.1186/s12348-021-00275-x

M3 - Article

C2 - 34982290

AN - SCOPUS:85122278156

SN - 1869-5760

VL - 12

JO - Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection

JF - Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection

IS - 1

M1 - 4

ER -

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

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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