“Vitreous Hemorrhage and Long-Lasting Priapism After COVID-19 m-RNA Based Vaccine: A Case Report”

Purpose: To report a case of possible multi-district thromboembolic event involving the eye of a patient with several cardiovascular risk factors, following a second inoculation of SARS-CoV-2 m-RNA based vaccine. Case-report: A 60-year-old man presented with blurred vision in the left eye lasting 1 month but started within 24 hours from the 2nd dose of BNT162b2 vaccine inoculation. He also reported a long-lasting but self-limiting priapism which started about 4 h after the vaccination. Patient's medical history included: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, treated with chemotherapy and HLA-identical sibling donor transplant 18 months earlier; subsequent cytomegalovirus posterior outer retinal necrosis (PORN) resolved with antiviral treatment; type II diabetes and erectile dysfunction. Ocular examination of the affected eye revealed vitreous hemorrhage which limited the observation of details of the fundus. After a 2-week follow-up without any clinical improvement, parsplana vitrectomy (PPV) with cataract extraction was performed. Surgical aspiration of a large preretinal hemorrhage revealed intraretinal flame-shaped hemorrhages and some cotton wool spots. Further intraoperative examination and post-operative fluorescein angiography excluded the rhegmatogenaous and the neovascular origin of the intraocular bleeding. Conclusions: Due to the several predisposing factors such as diabetes, aspirin assumption, history of blood dyscrasia and infectious retinitis, the relationship between the acute intraocular bleeding and the BNT162b2 inoculation remains difficult to ascertain in this patient. However, the occurrence of lasting priapism and vitreous hemorrhage within 24 h from the vaccination is a critical event which deserves to be mentioned.