Introduction: Many adverse occurrences in the eye have been reported after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. This is the first report of a patient with an unruptured retinal arterial macroaneurysm (RAM) who developed branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) one day after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (BNT162b2 by Pfizer-BioNTech).
Patient report: A 75-year-old man with a pertinent history of type-2 diabetes mellitus visited the hospital complaining of sudden visual loss in his right eye 1 day after receiving the fourth dose of the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine; his best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) decreased from 1.0 to 0.7 (Snellen decimal). The patient had previously been diagnosed with an unruptured RAM and superior paracentral acute middle maculopathy in the same eye. Fundus examination showed increased sheathing of blood vessels. Indocyanine green showed a hyperfluorescent area suggestive of RAM on the right eye disc. Fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography angiography revealed arterial obstruction findings in the upper retinal area.
Diagnosis and intervention: The patient was diagnosed with BRAO with RAM and was followed up without any additional treatment. Follow-up examination after 4 months did not show any improvement in BCVA value.
Conclusion: This case suggested that BRAO could develop after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with unruptured RAM; however, more research is required to investigate the causes.
Keywords: Venous occlusive disease < RETINA; adverse effects of electromagnetic energy < RETINA; arterial occlusive disease < RETINA; retinal pathology / research < RETINA; retinal telangietasias/macroaneurysms < RETINA.