ACUTE ENCEPHALOMYELOPOLYRADICULONEUROPATHY THAT OCCURRED AFTER BNT162B2 MRNA VACCINATION AGAINST COVID-19: A CLINICAL CASE REVIEW

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 and side effects of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination show tropism to nervous system structures. Neurological side effects from the central and peripheral nervous systems have been observed quite rarely after vaccination against COVID-19 compared to a large number of vaccinated individuals. The article presents a clinical case of simultaneous damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems in the form of acute autoimmune inflammatory encephalomyelopolyradiculoneuropathy, which occurred after receiving the first dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. The severe course of encephalomyelopolyradiculoneuropathy with peripheral tetraplegia, sensory disturbances, bulbar syndrome, and dysautonomia, followed by the occurrence of pneumonia, secondary bacterial meningoencephalitis, the need for long-term mechanical ventilation led to the occurrence of pneumothorax and multiple organ failure, which caused the patient’s death after one and a half months of intensive therapy. Thus, the acute autoimmune inflammatory encephalomyelopolyradiculoneuropathy can be considered as a probable rare neurological complication of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with mRNA-based vaccines. Encephalomyelopolyradiculoneuropathy can have a severe course, accompanied by multiple complications and leading to death. Establishing of the causal relationships of the occurrence of rare neurological pathological conditions close in time to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 with mRNA-based vaccines requires additional further researches.