Risk assessment of retinal vascular occlusion after COVID-19 vaccination.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are associated with several ocular manifestations. Emerging evidence has been reported; however, the causality between the two is debatable. We aimed to investigate the risk of retinal vascular occlusion after COVID-19 vaccination. This retrospective cohort study used the TriNetX global network and included individuals vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines between January 2020 and December 2022. We excluded individuals with a history of retinal vascular occlusion or those who used any systemic medication that could potentially affect blood coagulation prior to vaccination. To compare the risk of retinal vascular occlusion, we employed multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models after performing a 1:1 propensity score matching between the vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts. Individuals with COVID-19 vaccination had a higher risk of all forms of retinal vascular occlusion in 2 years after vaccination, with an overall hazard ratio of 2.19 (95% confidence interval 2.00-2.39). The cumulative incidence of retinal vascular occlusion was significantly higher in the vaccinated cohort compared to the unvaccinated cohort, 2 years and 12 weeks after vaccination. The risk of retinal vascular occlusion significantly increased during the first 2 weeks after vaccination and persisted for 12 weeks. Additionally, individuals with first and second dose of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 had significantly increased risk of retinal vascular occlusion 2 years following vaccination, while no disparity was detected between brand and dose of vaccines. This large multicenter study strengthens the findings of previous cases. Retinal vascular occlusion may not be a coincidental finding after COVID-19 vaccination.

Deep Venous Thrombosis and Risk of Consequent Sepsis Event: A Retrospective Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

Deep vein thrombosis causes several acute and chronic vessel complications and puts patients at risk of subsequent sepsis development. This unique study aimed to estimate the risk of sepsis development in DVT patients compared with non-DVT patients. This population-based cohort study used records of a longitudinal health insurance database containing two million patients defined in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Our study included patients aged over 20 years with a new diagnosis of DVT with at least two outpatient department visits or an admission between 2001 and 2014. Patients with a diagnosis of sepsis before the index date were excluded. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to homogenize the baseline characteristics between the two groups. To define the independent risk of the DVT group, a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratios. After PSM, the DVT group (n = 5753) exhibited a higher risk of sepsis (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.59-1.90) compared with non-DVT group (n = 5753). Patients with an increased risk of sepsis were associated with being elderly aged, male, having diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, malignancy, and use of antibiotics. In conclusion, this population-based cohort study demonstrated an increased risk of sepsis in DVT patients compared with non-DVT patients. Thus, early prevention and adequate treatment of DVT is necessary in clinical practice.

Association of hydroxychloroquine and cardiac arrhythmia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: A population-based case control study.

OBJECTIVES: Hydroxychloroquine is widely used to treat certain viral and rheumatic diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus. Cardiac arrhythmia is an important safety issue with hydroxychloroquine. The aim of this study was to investigate whether hydroxychloroquine increases new-onset arrhythmia among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. METHODS: This was a nested case-control study using data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database of Taiwan. A conditional logistic regression model was used to analyse differences in the risk of arrhythmia between systemic lupus erythematosus patients with and without hydroxychloroquine treatment after controlling for related variables. RESULTS: A total of 2499 patients with newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus were identified (81% females), of whom 251 were enrolled in the new-onset arrhythmia group (mean age 50.4 years) and 251 in the non-arrhythmia group (mean age 49.1 years). There was no significantly increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia (adjusted odds ratio = 1.49, 95% confidence interval: 0.98-2.25) or ventricular arrhythmia (adjusted odds ratio = 1.02, 95% confidence interval: 0.19-5.41) between the patients with and without hydroxychloroquine treatment. In addition, there were no significant differences in the risk of arrhythmia between those receiving hydroxychloroquine treatment for <180 days or ≥180 days, with a drug adherence rate of <50% or ≥50%, and receiving a daily dose of <400 mg or ≥400 mg. CONCLUSION: In patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, hydroxychloroquine treatment did not significantly increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmia or life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia regardless of the different hydroxychloroquine treatment duration, drug adherence rate, or daily dose.