Bilateral Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy after COVID-19 Vaccination and Infection

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To describe a case of acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) in a patient with recent COVID-19 vaccination and infection who demonstrated atypical features on presentation.

Observations

A 64-year-old woman presented with central vision loss in both eyes (OU). She had recently received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and rapidly developed systemic symptoms. Testing revealed COVID-19 infection. Visual acuities were 20/200 OU and near-infrared reflectance revealed hypo-reflective lesions in the maculae OU, optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed outer nuclear layer thinning and ellipsoid zone disruption OU, and OCT-angiography showed flow voids in the deep capillary plexus and choriocapillaris OU, all consistent with AMN. She was treated with oral prednisone with subsequent mild vision improvement and persistent scotomas.

Discussion

COVID-19 associated AMN can present with a more severe clinical presentation than classically seen in AMN. Ischemic and inflammatory changes due to COVID-19 infection may contribute to this more advanced presentation.

KEYWORDS:

• Acute macular neuroretinopathy
• COVID-19 infection
• COVID-19 vaccination
• optical coherence tomography
• optical coherence tomography angiography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by the National Eye Institute Intramural Research Program.