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Review
. 2022 Mar;269(3):1121-1132.
doi: 10.1007/s00415-021-10785-2. Epub 2021 Sep 5.

Acute transverse myelitis following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: a case report and review of literature

Erum Khan  1   2 , Ashish K Shrestha  2 , Mark A Colantonio  3 , Richard N Liberio  3 , Shitiz Sriwastava  4   5
Affiliations
Review

Acute transverse myelitis following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: a case report and review of literature

Erum Khan et al. J Neurol. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To report a unique case and literature review of post COVID-19 vaccination associated transverse myelitis and with abnormal MRI findings.

Background: Coronavirus disease have been reported to be associated with several neurological manifestations such as stroke, Guillain-Barré syndrome, meningoencephalitis amongst others. There are only a few reported cases of transverse myelitis with the novel coronavirus (n-CoV-2). Here, we identify a post COVID-19 vaccination patient diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis.

Method: A retrospective chart review of a patient diagnosed with post SARS-CoV-2 vaccination acute transverse myelitis, and a review of literature of all the reported cases of other post vaccination and transverse myelitis, from December 1st, 2010 till July 15th, 2021, was performed.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the one of early reported case of transverse myelitis and with post SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, who responded well to plasmapheresis. Further studies would be recommended to identify the underlying correlation between COVID-19 vaccination and transverse myelitis.

Keywords: COVID-19; MRI spine; Post vaccination myelitis; SARS-CoV-2; Transverse myelitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
MRI sagittal STIR weighted image of cervical spine (a), sagittal cervical spine; sagittal T1 post contrast (b and c) reveals ill-defined long segment signal alteration with mild cord expansion (yellow arrow) (a) and abnormal enhancement on post-contrast study (b and c) (red arrow) extending from C1–C3 level
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Repeat MRI of the cervical was performed on 2 months follow-up visit, which showed complete interval resolution of previously identified abnormal enhancement (b) with residual focal hyperintensity at C2 (yellow arrow) (a) in the cervical spine as shown in Fig. 2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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