Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion After COVID-19 Infection: A Case Report

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 15; no. 4; p. e38172
• Main Authors: Kapsis, Petros, Agapitou, Chrysa, Dimitriou, Eleni, Theodossiadis, Panagiotis, Chatziralli, Irini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cureus Inc 26-04-2023; Cureus
• Subjects: Apolipoproteins; Asymptomatic; Case reports; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease; Edema; Infections; Inflammation; Laboratories; Lipoproteins; Medical imaging; Metabolic disorders; Ophthalmology; Pathogenesis; Patients; Risk factors; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Thromboembolism; Tomography; Veins & arteries; Visual acuity; branch retinal vein occlusion; infection; covid 19; aflibercept; mild
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.38172

A 65-year-old male patient presented to the ED complaining of blurred vision in the left eye for the last three days. The patient had just recovered from COVID-19 infection and had a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test two days after the initiation of symptoms. His family and medical history were clear. Ophthalmological examination and imaging revealed branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) with macular edema in the left eye, while the right eye was normal. The visual acuity was 6/6 in the right eye and 6/36 in the left eye. Laboratory tests, as well as the full cardiovascular and thrombophilia evaluation, were normal. Since the patient did not have known risk factors for BRVO, we hypothesize that it was related to COVID-19 infection. However, the causality between the two entities remains under investigation.