Blockages of arteries and veins that control bloodflow into and out of the retina are a common cause of vision impairment. Some case reports have described cases of retinal vascular occlusion (RVO) occurring within days of mRNA COVID-19 vaccination; however, it was unclear if this was coincidental.
Researchers at Case Western University and the Cleveland Clinic, both in Ohio, identified more than 3.1 million patients who had received mRNA vaccines in 2020-22 from a database of the anonymised health records of 103 million people. Of these, 104 individuals – or 3.4 per 100,000 – had a new RVO diagnosis within 21 days of receiving a first dose of mRNA vaccine.
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Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible sight loss in the UK and affects over one million people, which is predicted to rise by 100,000 cases to 1.145 million people by 2030*.
The College of Optometrists has published its first issue of Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics (OPO), its flagship international and interdisciplinary research journal for contemporary vision science and optometry, with its new publishing partner Springer Nature this month.