A Case Series and Literature Review of the Association of COVID-19 Vaccination With Autoimmune Diseases: Causality or Chance?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a challenging time for the whole world. Ever since the start of the pandemic, vaccine development has been underway and now there are several approved COVID-19 vaccines bringing hope for the end of the pandemic. However, there have been been a few individuals who have been affected in some other ways by the COVID-19 vaccinations. Here in this case series, we present 16 cases of autoimmune diseases with a strong temporal relation with the COVID-19 vaccine. We would like to emphasize that COVID-19 vaccines are essential to alter the course of the pandemic and save lives and the temporal relation is not by any means proof of causation. However, we must be vigilant for the occurrence of these conditions.

Post-COVID-19 vaccine medium-vessel vasculitis and acute anterior uveitis, causation vs temporal relation; case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: and importance: Multiple immunologic phenomena were reported following the administration of COVID-19 vaccines. However, the important point is that their possible association with medium-vessel vasculitis involving the celiac trunk and its branches with acute anterior uveitis in the same patient has not been reported before. CASE PRESENTATION: In this manuscript, we are reporting a case of a middle-aged gentleman who developed vasculitis involving the celiac trunk and its branches, and acute anterior uveitis one week and three weeks after the second dose of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, respectively. The patient showed significant clinical and radiographic improvement after receiving corticosteroids and azathioprine. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Previously reported cases of vasculitis following COVID-19 vaccines included both renal-limited and more generalized vasculitis with some being positive and others negative for ANCA (anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies). Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that most cases responded to immunosuppressive treatment. Post-COVID-19 vaccine uveitis was reported in patients with different age spans including both anterior and posterior uveitis, with remission being achieved after the use of corticosteroids. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple cases of vasculitis and acute anterior uveitis were reported following COVID-19 vaccines; however, it is important to mention that more research is needed to establish an association between the COVID-19 vaccine and both vasculitis and acute anterior uveitis. In our opinion, the benefits of the COIVID-19 vaccine largely outweigh the expected risks.