Abstract
Background and Objectives Acute inflammatory CNS diseases include neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody–associated disease (MOGAD). Both MOGAD and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) have been reported after vaccination. Consequently, the mass SARS-CoV-2 vaccination program could result in increased rates of these conditions. We described the features of patients presenting with new acute CNS demyelination resembling NMOSDs or MOGAD within 8 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
Methods The study included a prospective case series of patients referred to highly specialized NMOSD services in the UK from the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination program up to May 2022. Twenty-five patients presented with new optic neuritis (ON) and/or transverse myelitis (TM) ± other CNS inflammation within 8 weeks of vaccination with either AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1S) or Pfizer (BNT162b2) vaccines. Their clinical records and paraclinical investigations including MRI scans were reviewed. Serologic testing for antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) was performed using live cell–based assays. Patients' outcomes were graded good, moderate, or poor based on the last clinical assessment.
Results Of 25 patients identified (median age 38 years, 14 female), 12 (48%) had MOG antibodies (MOGIgG+), 2 (8%) had aquaporin 4 antibodies (AQP4IgG+), and 11 (44%) had neither. Twelve of 14 (86%) antibody-positive patients received the ChAdOx1S vaccine. MOGIgG+ patients presented most commonly with TM (10/12, 83%), frequently in combination with ADEM-like brain/brainstem lesions (6/12, 50%). Transverse myelitis was longitudinally extensive in 7 of the 10 patients. A peak in new MOGAD cases in Spring 2021 was attributable to postvaccine cases. Both AQP4IgG+ patients presented with brain lesions and TM. Four of 6 (67%) seronegative ChAdOx1S recipients experienced longitudinally extensive TM (LETM) compared with 1 of 5 (20%) of the BNT162b2 group, and facial nerve inflammation was reported only in ChAdOx1S recipients (2/5, 40%). Guillain-Barre syndrome was confirmed in 1 seronegative ChAdOx1S recipient and suspected in another.
Discussion ChAdOx1S was associated with 12/14 antibody-positive cases, the majority MOGAD. MOGAD patients presented atypically, only 2 with isolated ON (1 after BNT162b2 vaccine) but with frequent ADEM-like brain lesions and LETM. Within the seronegative group, phenotypic differences were observed between ChAdOx1S and BNT162b2 recipients. These observations might support a causative role of the ChAdOx1S vaccine in inflammatory CNS disease and particularly MOGAD. Further study of this cohort could provide insights into vaccine-associated immunopathology.
Glossary
- ADEM=
- acute disseminated encephalomyelitis;
- AQP4=
- aquaporin 4;
- IVIg=
- IV immunoglobulin;
- IVMP=
- IV methylprednisolone;
- LETM=
- longitudinally extensive TM;
- GBS=
- Guillain-Barre syndrome;
- MOGAD=
- myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody–associated disease;
- NMOSD=
- neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder;
- OCB=
- oligoclonal band;
- ON=
- optic neuritis;
- PF4=
- platelet factor 4;
- PLEX=
- plasma exchange;
- TM=
- transverse myelitis;
- VITT=
- vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia
Footnotes
↵* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Go to Neurology.org/NN for full disclosures. Funding information is provided at the end of the article.
The Article Processing Charge was funded by the Authors.
Submitted and externally peer reviewed. The handling editor was Josep O. Dalmau, MD, PhD, FAAN.
- Received June 3, 2022.
- Accepted in final form September 26, 2022.
- Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND), which permits downloading and sharing the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- Author Response: Acute Inflammatory Diseases of the Central Nervous System After SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination
- Reader Response: Acute Inflammatory Diseases of the Central Nervous System After SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination
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