Sudden Cardiac Death Caused by Small Vessel Vasculitis After COVID-19 vaccination (BNT162b2 nCov-19); A Case Report

• Published in: 대한법의학회지, 45(4) pp. 133 - 138
• Main Authors: 박소형, 김민경, 백강현
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한법의학회 01.11.2021
• Subjects: 기타의약학
• ISSN: 2383-5702; 2383-5710
• DOI: 10.7580/kjlm.2021.45.4.133

We present a case of sudden cardiac death due to cardiac small vessel vasculitis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination (BNT162b2). The deceased was a 76-years-old woman with diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic hypertension (HTN), who was suffering from generalized pain for a month after the first dose of vaccination, and she unexpectedly expired. The postmortem examination revealed small vessel vasculitis in the heart, lung and vaccinated site of the left arm. These features were similar to those of a previously reported case of a COVID-19 patient with cardiac endotheliitis and multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Plausible explanation suggests that vaccine-induced immunologic changes and vascular dysfunction due to DM and HTN may contribute to the mechanism of adverse events after vaccination. However, further study of additional cases is needed. KCI Citation Count: 0