Did Oshida et al. report risk of intracranial brain aneurysm rupture within three days after receiving mRNA technology based anti-COVID-19 vaccination? Yes! cases of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

SOURCE:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35509565/

Case description: ‘We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of individuals who received a first and/ or second dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine between March 6, 2021, and June 14, 2021, in a rural district in Japan, and identified the occurrences of aneurysmal SAH within 3 days after mRNA vaccination.

We assessed incidence rates (IRs) for aneurysmal SAH within 3 days after vaccination and spontaneous SAH for March 6-June 14, 2021, and for the March 6-June 14 intervals of a 5-year reference period of 2013-2017. We assessed the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of aneurysmal SAH within 3 days after vaccination and spontaneous SAH compared to the crude incidence in the reference period (2013-2017). Among 34,475 individuals vaccinated during the study period, three women presented with aneurysmal SAH (IR: 1058.7/100,000 person-years), compared with 83 SAHs during the reference period (IR: 20.7/100,000 persons-years). IRR was 0.026 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.0087-0.12; P < 0.001). A total of 28 spontaneous SAHs were verified from the Iwate Stroke Registry database during the same period in 2021 (IR: 34.9/100,000 person-years), and comparison with the reference period showed an IRR of 0.78 (95%CI 0.53-1.18; P = 0.204).

All three cases developed SAH within 3 days (range, 0-3 days) of the first or second dose of Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech. The median age at the time of SAH onset was 63.7 years (range, 44- 75 years). Observed locations of ruptured aneurysms in patients were the bifurcations of the middle cerebral artery, internal carotid-posterior communicating artery, and anterior communicating artery, respectively. Favorable outcomes (modified Rankin scale scores, 0-2) were obtained following microsurgical clipping or intra-aneurysm coiling.

Although the advantages of COVID-19 vaccination appear to outweigh the risks, pharmacovigilance must be maintained to monitor potentially fatal adverse events and identify possible associations.’