Facial and Abducens Nerve Palsies Following COVID-19 Vaccination: Report of Two Cases

Amirreza Veisi; Maryam Najafi; Kiana Hassanpour; Abbas Bagheri

doi:10.1080/01658107.2022.2032204

Facial and Abducens Nerve Palsies Following COVID-19 Vaccination: Report of Two Cases

Neuroophthalmology. 2022 Feb 15;46(3):203-206. doi: 10.1080/01658107.2022.2032204. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Amirreza Veisi^{1

2}, Maryam Najafi^{1

2}, Kiana Hassanpour^{1

2}, Abbas Bagheri^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Ophthalmic Research Center, Research Institute for Ophthalmology and Vision Science, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

A broad spectrum of neurological side effects has been reported after immunisation for COVID-19, including functional neurological disorders, cerebral vascular events, cerebral venous thrombosis, intracerebral haemorrhage, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, cranial nerve palsies, and otologic manifestations. Multiple cranial neuropathies have also been reported following vaccination in which involvement of VII nerve is the most prevalent, followed by the VI, III, and IV nerves. We describe two male patients, one with with facial nerve palsy and the other with abducens nerve palsy following COVID-19 vaccination. The patient with facial nerve palsy received the AstraZeneca vaccine 2 days before the symptoms began. In contrast, the patient with the abducens palsy had received his first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine 7 days previously. Both patients demonstrated a gradual recovery within the next 2 months. Further studies are required to investigate the proper relationship between cranial nerve palsies and vaccinations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Seventh nerve palsy; facial nerve palsy; sixth nerve palsy; vaccination.

Grants and funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.