Neurological and Oral Complications Following COVID-19 Vaccination

New paper discusses a case report of a 65-year-old woman who experienced neurological complications following the administration of a third dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The patient, previously in good health, presented with symptoms that included numbness in the mouth, feet, legs, interscapular space, and hands, along with muscle pain in the lower limbs and interscapular pain.

The clinical evaluation by a neurologist revealed distal and asymmetric sensory axonal polyneuropathy predominantly affecting the right lower limb. Electromyography (EMG) and electroneurography (ENG) tests were conducted to assess the nerve function. The study showed an exclusively sensory polyneuropathy of the axonal type with a distal and asymmetric distribution, predominantly in the right lower limb. There were also findings suggestive of neuropathy due to entrapment of the distal segment of the right median nerve in its course through the wrist. 

The patient's blood work showed elevated transaminases, which could be indicative of myelin damage. Antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 revealed high levels of specific antibodies, suggesting a robust immune response to the vaccine.

Cervical and dorsal magnetic resonance imaging did not reveal any structural abnormalities in the patient's spinal cord or craniocervical junction that could explain the neurological symptoms.

In terms of the patient's clinical course, the symptoms improved over time, with the paresthesia in the teeth being the first to resolve. Muscular pain and paresthesia in the legs also improved gradually. Importantly, the patient did not require corticosteroid medication, and there was evidence of progressive improvement.

Complications associated with COVID-19 vaccination in the oral region are generally infrequent and predominantly involve mucous membrane issues, such as lip or tongue inflammation, which may be linked to anaphylaxis. Additionally, reports of mucositis leading to moderate pain have been documented. Elderly patients have also exhibited ulcerative mucosal lesions, erythema, fissured tongue,  oral pemphigus (with or without autoimmune complications) and mucosal pain. Cases have been reported of oral lichen planus either emerging after vaccination or worsening pre-existing lichen lesions and various complications within the peripheral nervous system, including conditions like Guillain-Barre Syndrome, subacute axonal sensorimotor polyneuropathy, polyradiculoneuropathy, brachial plexopathy, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

This case report highlights the importance of monitoring and studying potential neurological complications following COVID-19 vaccination. 


REFERENCE

López-Carriches, Leco-Berrocal, Bahram-Taheri, Cardona-Moreno, Cortés-Bretón-Brinkmann, Moreno-López (2023) Neurological complications following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination: Oral and lower limb paresthesia. A case discussion and literature review. J Clin Exp Dent (IF: -1) 15(10) e866-e869

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Onset of Ulcerative Colitis post-2nd-breakthrough-COVID-19

Image
A 21-year-old non-smoking Caucasian male with a history of acute pancreatitis but no other medical issues or family history had two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.  Four months after the second dose he had his first episode of COVID-19. Although not hypoxic, he felt pretty unwell for a week, with a severe cough, fever, generalized body ache, headache, and loss of taste. He received the third dose of the vaccine two months after recovering from COVID. Nine months after the third dose, he had the second episode of COVID-19, during which he was mildly unwell for three days, recovered, and did not require any anti-viral medication or antibiotics. One week post the second episode of COVID-19, he developed diarrhea and abdominal pain. It then progressed to bloody diarrhea. Ulcerative colitis was diagnosed based on his clinical symptoms, biopsy changes, and the exclusion of other causes.  There are ten published case reports about the newly diagnosed ulcerative colitis ...
Read more

COVID in May

Image
Concerns about a potential resurgence of COVID-19 are mounting as summer 2024 approaches.  This is driven by several indicators, including social media posts, healthcare data, and wastewater surveillance across different regions. Our study findings corroborate this trend.  While many forecasters anticipate a surge, others expect a gradual increase through the end of May, and then a decline again around early June. Reports from social media suggest emerging clusters of COVID-19 in Texas, several Canadian provinces, the UK, and on cruises in northern regions such as a Norwegian cruise to Alaska.  Data from Alberta's Respiratory virus dashboard   (total weekly laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases) and wastewater surveillance in Calgary indicate an uptick in COVID-19 cases starting April 2024. The most recent statistics from Alberta Health reveal a significant increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19, with 114 individuals currently hospitalized—an incr...
Read more

Chronic SARS-CoV-2 Shedding

Image
Chronic viral shedding, a condition where the virus continues to be released from an individual's body long after the initial infection, has been observed in many infectious diseases, including COVID-19.  In such cases, individuals may remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms while the virus persists. It remains detectable in repeated tests over an extended period and can still infect others even in nasal swab is negative (which happens quite often ). This was evident in our study.    Recent research by Conway et al. (2024) highlights the possibility of chronic SARS-CoV-2 infection, extending over several months and potentially years. Other studies have documented prolonged asymptomatic infections and extended viral shedding in moderate to severe beyond hospital discharge. Analysis of sequencing data on UK samples taken between 2 November 2020 and 15 August 2022 lead to estimates that 0.1–0.5% of infections may become persistent with typically rebounding high ...
Read more