ABSTRACT
A 44-year-old woman who was quarantined for 5 days after the diagnosis of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) was transferred to our hospital with the complaint of chest pain. The patient was unvaccinated. Electrocardiography revealed ST elevation in the lateral leads. Echocardiographic biventricular dysfunction with oedematous wall thickening was identified. Cardiac enzyme levels were elevated; however, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and the coronary angiogram were normal. The patient required mechanical circulatory support to stabilize haemodynamics and was treated with remdesivir, baricitinib, and intravenous methylprednisolone. She recovered after 13 days of mechanical support. Serial cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed acute myocardial oedema and subsequent fibrosis. An endomyocardial biopsy on admission showed mild interstitial inflammatory infiltrates with endomyocardial fibrous thickening and mild interstitial fibrosis of the myocardium. Normal CRP levels suggested minor involvement of interleukin (IL)-6, supporting the efficacy of baricitinib.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide. Vaccination is now recommended as one of the effective countermeasures to control the pandemic or prevent the worsening of symptoms. However, its adverse effects have been attracting attention. Here, we report an autopsy case of multiple thromboses after receiving the first dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Comirnaty, Pfizer/BioNTech) in an elderly woman. CASE PRESENTATION: A 72-year-old woman with a history of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the stomach and hyperthyroidism received the first dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and died 2 days later. The autopsy revealed multiple microthrombi in the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and adrenal glands. The thrombi were CD61 and CD42b positive and were located in the blood vessels primarily in the pericardial aspect of the myocardium and subcapsular region of the adrenal glands; their diameters were approximately 5-40 µm. Macroscopically, a characteristic myocardial haemorrhage was observed, and the histopathology of the characteristic thrombus distribution, which differed from that of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and disseminated intravascular coagulation, suggested that the underlying pathophysiology may have been similar to that of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). CONCLUSION: This is the first report on a post-mortem case of multiple thromboses after the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. The component thrombus and characteristic distribution of the thrombi were similar to those of TMA, which differs completely from haemolytic uraemic syndrome or disseminated intravascular coagulation, after vaccination. Although rare, it is important to consider that fatal adverse reactions may occur after vaccination and that it is vital to conduct careful follow-up.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Myocarditis , COVID-19/prevention & control , Humans , Myocarditis/etiology , RNA, Messenger , Vaccination/adverse effectsABSTRACT
Myocardial injury has been reported as a complication of COVID-19. Although several mechanisms have been proposed as its cause, they are mostly based on autopsy studies, We report a 49-year-old male with COVID-19-associated myocardial injury presented like fulminant myocarditis. We performed endomyocardial biopsy on day 2 and we confirmed the presence of microthrombosis histologically. He died on day 5 due to cardiogenic shock.