Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis following coronavirus disease vaccinationA 76-year-old man presented to our hospital with bilateral progressive amaurosis and consciousness disorder 4 weeks after he had received the Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. He had no notable medical history, mildly elevated levels of cerebrospinal fluid protein, and a normal blood cell count. Brain magnetic resonance imaging findings revealed multiple white-matter lesions bilaterally (Figure 1A-D). The suspected diagnosis was acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. This disease usually develops following viral infection or vaccination and is characterized by monophasic acute inflammation and demyelination of the white matter, typically 1-2 weeks after exposure. Few reports have described the occurrence of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis following COVID-19 vaccination1,2.
Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in the (A) axial and (B) sagittal views showing multiple hyperintense white matter lesions and basal nuclei bilaterally (arrows). (C) Contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRI findings showing an incomplete arc of contrast enhancement (arrows). (D) MRI diffusion-weighted imaging showing hyperintense lesions (arrows).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We offer our deepest thanks to the institutions that provided technical support for the development and implementation of this study.
REFERENCES
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1 Gulay OK, Buse CA, Cagan R, Mustafa KD. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis-like presentation after an inactivated coronavirus vaccine. Acta Neurol Belg. 2021;121(4):1089-91. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01699-x
» https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01699-x -
2 Liming C, Lijie R. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccination: a case report. Acta Neurol Belg . 2021;1:1-3. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01608-2
» https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01608-2
