J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2024 Jul;65(7):480-485. 10.3341/jkos.2024.65.7.480.

Multiple Evanescent White Dot Syndrome following COVID-19 Vaccination: Two Case Reports

• Lee HE
• Jung S
• Chin HS

• KMID: 2557627
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2024.65.7.480

Abstract

Purpose
We present two cases of multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS) following COVID-19 vaccination.
Case summary
We present two cases of visual field defects following BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech, Kronach, Germany) COVID-19 vaccination. A 14-year-old male experienced reduced visual acuity in the temporal field of his left eye after his second dose. Similarly, a 38-year-old woman experienced decreased visual acuity in her right eye after her first dose. Notably, neither patient had pre-existing medical conditions or exhibited COVID-19 symptoms following vaccination. Funduscopic examination revealed multifocal peripapillary hyperreflective lesions in both cases. Visual field defects and hyperreflective lesions spontaneously resolved within 6 weeks, with normal visual acuity and fundus findings at the 7-month follow-up.
Conclusions
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in vaccination rates. Notably, MEWDS demonstrated a significant association with previous vaccines, including influenza and hepatitis, and the cases describe herein also suggest a potential association between BNT162b2 vaccination and MEWDS.

Keyword

COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Multiple evanescent white dot syndrome