Bilateral Central Retinal Vein Occlusion and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Associated with Coronavirus-19: A Case Report

Hamidreza Hasani; Benyamin Hakak-Zargar; Sahar Mohammad Poor Nami; Nami Mohammadian Khonsari

doi:10.4103/joco.joco_277_21

Bilateral Central Retinal Vein Occlusion and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Associated with Coronavirus-19: A Case Report

J Curr Ophthalmol. 2022 Apr 16;34(1):121-123. doi: 10.4103/joco.joco_277_21. eCollection 2022 Jan-Mar.

Authors

Hamidreza Hasani¹, Benyamin Hakak-Zargar², Sahar Mohammad Poor Nami³, Nami Mohammadian Khonsari³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Madani Hospital, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
² Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
³ Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) associated with coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection.

Methods: A 43-year-old man presented to the emergency department with flu-like symptoms, severe erythema, a rash on his face, and respiratory distress. He was admitted to the intensive care unit, and the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test was positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 virus. The routine blood work was unremarkable. The dermatologist noted positive Nikolsky's sign, and the patient was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), which affected 18% of his body and was later confirmed by skin biopsy. Later, he reported worsening vision.

Results: Ophthalmic examination and fundus fluorescein angiography showed bilateral CRVO. Despite best medical efforts, including treatment with systemic dexamethasone and remdesivir, the patient died on the 6 days of his hospitalization.

Conclusion: This was a rare bilateral CRVO and SJS case in a young patient, probably caused by the COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: Bilateral central retinal vein occlusion; Coronavirus-19; Stevens–Johnson syndrome; Young adult.

Publication types

Case Reports