ESCRS - PO036 - Five Cases Of Corneal Graft Rejection Following Recent Covid-19 Vaccinations, A Review.

Five Cases Of Corneal Graft Rejection Following Recent Covid-19 Vaccinations, A Review.

Published 2022 - 40th Congress of the ESCRS

Reference: PO036 | Type: Case report | DOI: 10.82333/0sng-za34

Authors: Mercedes Molero-Senosiain* 1 , Isabeau Houben 1 , Shalom Savant 2 , Vijay Savant 1

1Cornea,Leicester Royal Infirmary,Leicester,United Kingdom, 2Medical student,University of Cambridge,Cambridge,United Kingdom

To report five cases of acute corneal graft rejection after COVID-19 vaccination and perform a review of the literature.

Cornea department, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, England, United Kingdom.

We describe five cases - two patients with Descemet Stripping Automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy) who presented with acute corneal graft rejection after their first dose of mRNA (BNT162) vaccine. The other three patients had penetrating keratoplasty performed more than ten years ago for keratoconus, presented with acute graft rejection – two patients after their second dose of Adenovirus vector (AZD1222) vaccine and one patient after first dose of mRNA (BNT162) vaccine. Three patients were not using any topical steroid treatment at the time of diagnosis of graft rejection. The mean duration between vaccination and onset of symptoms was 16.86 ± 6.96 days for mRNA vaccine and 17 ± 11.89 days for adenovirus vector vaccine.

Corneal graft rejection has recently been reported after COVID-19 vaccination. Patients with keratoplasty need to be advised regarding the risk of corneal graft rejection and warning symptoms of rejection after COVID-19 vaccination. Seeking early referral to the emergency department and increasing topical steroids pre and post COVID-19 vaccination may reduce the risk of rejection.