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Unilateral idiopathic neuroretinitis following Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine: a case report
, 1, 1, 2
Affiliations- Ophthalmology Department, MidCentral District Health Board, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- Waikato District Health Board, Ophthalmology Department, Hamilton, New Zealand
open access
Abstract
This case report describes a temporal relationship of unilateral neuroretinitis following the second Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (Pfizer) vaccine. A 16-year-old male of mixed ethnicity presented with gradual loss of vision and pain on eye movement in his left eye 12 days after his second Pfizer vaccine. His visual acuity in the left eye was counting fingers at half a meter. There was optic nerve head swelling and macular exudates in a star-shaped pattern with peripapillary and foveal subretinal fluid consistent with left neuroretinitis. His serological and radiologic investigations were negative for any alternative aetiology. He was commenced on doxycycline, rifampicin, and oral prednisone on a tapering dose. Four months after presentation, his left eye vision improved to 6/24-2; limited by loss to the outer retinal layers over the fovea. The close proximity of the second Pfizer vaccine dose poses a temporal association with plausible causation.
Abstract
This case report describes a temporal relationship of unilateral neuroretinitis following the second Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (Pfizer) vaccine. A 16-year-old male of mixed ethnicity presented with gradual loss of vision and pain on eye movement in his left eye 12 days after his second Pfizer vaccine. His visual acuity in the left eye was counting fingers at half a meter. There was optic nerve head swelling and macular exudates in a star-shaped pattern with peripapillary and foveal subretinal fluid consistent with left neuroretinitis. His serological and radiologic investigations were negative for any alternative aetiology. He was commenced on doxycycline, rifampicin, and oral prednisone on a tapering dose. Four months after presentation, his left eye vision improved to 6/24-2; limited by loss to the outer retinal layers over the fovea. The close proximity of the second Pfizer vaccine dose poses a temporal association with plausible causation.
Keywords
neuroretinitis; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Pfizer; New Zealand
About this articleTitle
Unilateral idiopathic neuroretinitis following Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine: a case report
Journal
Issue
Vol 8 (2023): Continuous Publishing
Article type
Case report
Pages
33-37
Published online
2023-05-02
Page views
1842
Article views/downloads
311
DOI
Bibliographic record
Ophthalmol J 2023;8:33-37.
Keywords
neuroretinitis
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Pfizer
New Zealand
Authors
Louis Antoine Bonnet
Nishanthan Ramachandran
John Ah-Chan
Thiyaga Krishnan
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