Acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) following COVID-19 vaccination

Daniela Drüke; Uwe Pleyer; Hans Hoerauf; Nicolas Feltgen; Sebastian Bemme

doi:10.1016/j.ajoc.2021.101207

Acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) following COVID-19 vaccination

Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2021 Dec:24:101207. doi: 10.1016/j.ajoc.2021.101207. Epub 2021 Sep 23.

Authors

Daniela Drüke¹, Uwe Pleyer², Hans Hoerauf¹, Nicolas Feltgen¹, Sebastian Bemme¹

Affiliations

¹ University Medical Center Goettingen, Department of Ophthalmology, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
² Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Ophthalmology, Campus Virchow, Charité, 13353, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe a case of acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) in a 23-year-old Caucasian female after a COVID-19 vaccination (Vaxzevira).

Observations: Our patient perceived visual symptoms in both eyes one day after COVID-19 vaccination. Hyporeflective petalloid shaped perifoveal lesions appeared in infrared reflectance (IR) imaging, and Spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) revealed structural alterations of outer retinal layers that resulted in persistent disruption of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and the interdigitation zone (IZ).

Conclusions and importance: We report a novel association between AMN and COVID-19 vaccination. In addition to a febrile infection and oral contraception, previous vaccination should also be considered a potential risk factor for AMN.

Keywords: AMN; COVID-19 vaccine vaxzevria; EZ disruption; IZ disruption; Paracentral scotomas.

Publication types

Case Reports