Orbital Cellulitis following COVID-19 Vaccination

A 72-year-old male patient was referred to our outpatient clinic with a painful left eye protrusion accompanied by marked conjunctival chemosis and external ophthalmoplegia being progressed despite topical and oral antibiotic therapy. He developed ocular symptoms 9 days after receiving his second SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (VeroCell). Of note, in previous history, 2 weeks after the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, he also developed a life-threatening laryngeal oedema treated at an emergency care unit. MRI of the orbit excluded pansinusitis as possible origin of the orbital cellulitis, and repeated COVID-19 antigen and antibody PCR tests were negative during his hospitalization. On the next day after his admittance, parenteral dexamethasone 250 mg/die treatment was commenced resulting in a quick and complete resolution of the symptoms. Due to the facts regarding this case, such as the temporal coincidence and the lack of respective comorbidity, there might be a causative relationship between the vaccination and the presented orbital cellulitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on orbital cellulitis as a possible ocular adverse event following COVID-19 vaccination.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Orbital Cellulitis following COVID-19 Vaccination ; volume:13 ; number:1 ; year:2022 ; pages:210-214 ; extent:5 ; Case reports in ophthalmology ; 13, Heft 1 (2022), 210-214 (gesamt 5)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Hári-Kovács, András ; Vass, Attila ; Lovas, Péter ; Vince, Viola ; Végh, Mihály ; Tóth-Molnár, Edit

Further information

• DOI: 10.1159/000523803
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022051200451309170233
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:22 AM CEST