article · SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología
This clinical study evaluated eighteen patients who developed neurological complications shortly after receiving either the Comirnaty or Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccines in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Neurologists assessed clinical presentations, laboratory results, and radiological scans. Three patients who received a first dose of Vaxzevria suffered severe cerebral venous thrombosis, two of whom experienced intracranial haemorrhage, alongside severe thrombocytopenia and elevated d-dimer levels. Ischaemic stroke occurred in eight patients, predominantly older men. Other observed presentations included seizures in three patients, optic neuritis in two, and individual cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome and Miller Fisher syndrome following Comirnaty vaccination. Overall, neurological complications remain extremely rare. A shared inflammatory hypercoagulable state between the virus and the vaccines is thought to underlie these conditions, though vaccine-associated ischaemic strokes showed better responsiveness to medical treatment.
Although severe neurological complications following COVID-19 vaccination are exceptionally rare, documenting specific clinical presentations helps hospital clinicians identify and manage adverse events quickly. Recognising specific indicators, such as severe thrombocytopenia in cerebral venous thrombosis or distinctive responses to ischaemic stroke treatments, enables healthcare teams to deliver targeted interventions and improve patient outcomes.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway or commercialisation opportunity.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Sara A Assiri,1 Raad MM Althaqafi,2 Khaled Alswat,2 Ahmed Abdullah Alghamdi,3 Naif E Alomairi,2,4 Dalal M Nemenqani,2 Zein S Ibrahim,5 Ahmed Elkady4 1Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Department, King Faisal Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 2College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 3College of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al Baha, Saudi Arabia; 4Neurology Department, Saudi German Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, EgyptCorrespondence: Sara A Assiri, Email saraassiriiii@gmail.comPurpose: Neurological sequelae after COVID-19 vaccination are rare. We investigated the possible pathogenesis behind the development of neurological complications within a short period after Saudi residents received a COVID-19 vaccine.Patients and Methods: We evaluated 18 patients who recently received a COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty and Vaxzevria vaccines) and presented with neurological complications to the Saudi German Hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Neurologists assessed the patients’ clinical presentation, radiological investigations, and laboratory findings.Results: Three patients who received the first dose of the Vaxzevria vaccine experienced severe cerebral venous thrombosis, two of them were complicated by intracranial hemorrhage. Their laboratory investigations showed very high d-dimers and severe thrombocytopenia, which have been linked to higher mortality and poor outcome. Ischemic stroke occurred in eight cases (44.4%) with a predominance in older male patients. Three patients presented with seizures, two had optic neuritis. Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) and Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) occurred in two male patients following vaccination with Comirnaty.Conclusion: Neurological complications after COVID-19 vaccinations are very rare, and only a few cases have been reported worldwide. The shared pathophysiological basis between COVID-19 viral infection and COVID-19 vaccines stands behind the very rare neurological complications resulting from the hypercoagulable state triggered by the general inflammatory condition. We suspect some differences in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke caused by COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 vaccines, which render COVID-19 vaccine-associated ischemic stroke more responsive to treatment. To date, no definitive association between the vaccine and GBS has been proven by any strong evidence, but it has recently been added as a very rare side effect of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. No possible links of Miller Fisher syndrome to COVID-19 vaccines have been reported before the one reported in this study.Keywords: vaccine, ischemic stroke, cerebral venous thrombosis, seizures, optic neuritis
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
