Risk of retinal vein occlusion following COVID-19 vaccination: a self-controlled case series

Background: To evaluate the association between COVID-19 vaccination and retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Methods: This multicentre self-controlled case series included patients with RVO seen in five tertiary referral centres in Italy. All adults who received at least one dose of the BNT162b2, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, mRNA-1273 or Ad26.COV2.S vaccine and had a first diagnosis of RVO between January 01, 2021, and December 31, 2021 were included. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of RVO were estimated using Poisson regression, comparing rates of events in a 28-day period following each dose of vaccination and in the unexposed control periods. Results: 210 patients were included in the study. No increased risk of RVO was observed after the first dose (1–14 days IRR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.41–1.85; 15–28 days IRR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.50–2.04; 1–28 days IRR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.55–1.58) and second dose of vaccination (1–14 days IRR: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.62–2.37; 15–28 days IRR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.53–2.20; 1–28 days IRR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.70–1.90). No association between RVO and vaccination was found in subgroup analyses by type of vaccine, gender and age. Conclusions: This self-controlled case series found no evidence of an association between RVO and COVID-19 vaccination.