Paracentral Acute Middle Maculopathy Associated With Cilioretinal Artery Insufficiency Following COVID-19 Vaccination in a Young Patient

Cureus. 2022 Sep 3;14(9):e28739. doi: 10.7759/cureus.28739. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Abstract

We aim to present a unique case of unilateral paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM) associated with cilioretinal artery insufficiency following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. A 28-year-old male complained of a sudden blurring of vision in his left eye 40 days after receiving the second dose of COVID-19 immunization. The optical coherence tomography revealed a diffuse paracentral area of hyper-reflective change in the inner plexiform layer and an increase in the inner nuclear layer volume, consistent with PAMM along the course of the cilioretinal artery. PAMM has been connected to an assortment of retinal vasculature anomalies. Considering COVID-19 vaccination, we hypothesize that the immunogenic cascade following vaccination dysregulated coagulation and led to retinal vascular thrombosis. However, the link between COVID-19 vaccination and retinal vascular occlusion disease remains unknown.

Keywords: cilioretinal artery; cilioretinal artery insufficiency; covid-19 vaccine; optical coherence tomography; paracentral acute middle maculopathy; retina and vaccine; visual acuity measurement.

Publication types

  • Case Reports