Bilateral Retinal Detachments in a Healthy 22-year-old Female Following Moderna SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination

Subramony, Rachna; Lin, Lucia Christiana; Knight, Darren K.; Aminlari, Amir; Belovarski, Ioan

BACKGROUND: Though uncommon, retinal detachments are medically urgent and can result in permanent vision loss if untreated. Bilateral retinal detachments in healthy individuals are even more rare. Additionally, there are no cases to date of retinal detachment associated with either COVID-19 or after receiving the Moderna (mRNA-1273) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. CASE REPORT: A 22-year-old female with myopia but no ocular trauma or other major past medical history presented to the emergency department with five days of progressive, painless vision loss in her right eye. On examination, her visual acuity with corrective lenses was 20/70 in the right eye, 20/20 in the left eye, and 20/25 with both eyes open. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the eye showed a retinal detachment in the right eye. She was subsequently seen by ophthalmology and diagnosed with bilateral retinal detachments (macula-off in the right, macula-on in the left) despite being asymptomatic in her left eye. She underwent bilateral vitrectomies for simultaneous rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. Although the patient denied any preceding trauma, she did note having received her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine 10 days before the onset of symptoms. Why should an emergency physician be aware of this: We present a rare and unusual case of simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments in a healthy young female with no major past medical history or medications aside from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine a few days prior. Our case outlines a possible adverse effect of the vaccine and emphasizes the importance of ultrasonography in diagnosing time-sensitive medical conditions.