Ocular motility disorders following coronavirus disease-19 vaccination

Abstract

Purpose: To describe clinical manifestations and short-term prognosis of ocular motility disorders following coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccination.

Methods: Ocular motility disorders were diagnosed by clinical assessment, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, and laboratory testing. Clinical manifestations, short-term prognosis, and rate of complete recovery were analyzed.

Results: Sixty-three patients (37 males, 26 females) with a mean age of 61.6 ± 13.3 years (range, 22-81 years) were included in this study. Among 61 applicable patients with sufficient information regarding medical histories, 38 (62.3%) had one or more significant underlying past medical histories including vasculopathic risk factors. The interval between initial symptoms and vaccination was 8.6 ± 8.2 (range, 0-28) days. Forty-two (66.7%), 14 (22.2%), and 7 (11.1%) patients developed symptoms after the first, second, and third vaccinations, respectively. One case of internuclear ophthalmoplegia, 52 cases of cranial nerve palsy, two cases of myasthenia gravis, six cases of orbital diseases (such as myositis, thyroid eye disease, and IgG-related orbital myopathy), and two cases of comitant vertical strabismus with acute onset diplopia were found. Among 42 patients with follow-up data (duration: 62.1 ± 40.3 days), complete improvement, partial improvement, no improvement, and exacerbation were shown in 20, 15, 3, and 4 patients, respectively.

Conclusion: This study provided various clinical features of ocular motility disorders following COVID-19 vaccination. The majority of cases had a mild clinical course while some cases showed a progressive nature. Close follow-up and further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and long-term prognosis.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Ocular motility disorders; Ophthalmoplegia; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).