Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines can cause transient local and systemic post-vaccination reactions. The aim of this study was to report uveitis and other ocular complications following COVID-19 vaccination. The study included 42 eyes of 34 patients (20 females, 14 males), with a mean age of 49.8 years (range 18–83 years). The cases reported were three herpetic keratitis, two anterior scleritis, five anterior uveitis (AU), three toxoplasma retinochoroiditis, two Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease reactivations, two pars planitis, two retinal vasculitis, one bilateral panuveitis in new-onset Behçet’s disease, three multiple evanescent white dot syndromes (MEWDS), one acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN), five retinal vein occlusions (RVO), one non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), three activations of quiescent choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to myopia or uveitis, and one central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). Mean time between vaccination and ocular complication onset was 9.4 days (range 1–30 days). Twenty-three cases occurred after Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination (BNT162b2 mRNA), 7 after Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19), 3 after ModernaTX vaccination (mRNA-1273), and 1 after Janssen Johnson & Johnson vaccine (Ad26.COV2). Uveitis and other ocular complications may develop after the administration of COVID-19 vaccine.
Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common cause of visual loss in the Western World. RVO is usually classified into branch RVO (BRVO) and central RVO (CRVO) according to the anatomical site of the vascular occlusion. The pathogenesis of RVO is not yet fully understood, however an important event is the intraluminal thrombus formation, which is usually secondary to several conditions such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and thrombophilia. The blockage of venous circulation causes an elevation of intraluminal pressure in the capillaries, leading to hemorrhages and leakage of fluid within the retina, increase of interstitial pressure and a consequent reduction of retinal perfusion. Ischemia may develop resulting in secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that causes further vascular leakage and retinal oedema. VEGF has therefore a leading role in RVO pathogenesis and symptoms. As a consequence use of anti-VEGF agents by intravitreal injections has become very common with the aim to improve the clinical outcomes in these patients. Currently 2 anti-VEGF agents (ranimizumab and aflibercept) have been FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicine Agency) approved for the treatment of RVO, while another VEGF inhibitor (bevacizumab) is often used "off-label" in clinical practice. Many treatment regimens have been suggested in the clinical trials with these drugs, as monthly injections or injections when needed, however the ideal regimen has not been defined yet. We conducted a systematic review searching MEDLINE for the following terms: retinal vein occlusion, ranibizumab, bevacizumab, aflibercept, vascular endothelial growth factor, macular oedema. Data were extracted by one author (AG and BE) and checked by a second (BPM, CC). Aim of this article was to review available data for each drug, focusing on their efficacy and safety trying to compare their advantages and limits.
Gene therapy represents an emerging and promising therapeutic approach for the treatment not only of rare inherited retinal diseases but also much more common retinal pathologies.
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