Bilateral Axillo-Brachial Artery Stenosis Following Messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) Vaccination Against Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus 2 (COVID-19)

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2023-01, Vol.15 (1), p.e33843
• Main Author: Güven, Hasan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aortic stenosis; Cardiology; Case reports; COVID-19; Endoscopy; Immunization; Medical imaging; Public Health; Rheumatology; Stents; Vascular surgery
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.33843

The following case report is an overview of an unusual presentation of bilateral axillo-brachial artery occlusion following messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccination against severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (COVID-19). A 64-year-old female presented with symptoms initially consistent with polymyalgia rheumatica five weeks following the first booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. She was successfully treated with prednisone therapy; however, despite the normalization of inflammatory markers, she later presented with bilaterally occluded axillo-brachial arteries. She successfully underwent endovascular management for the treatment of her symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of chronically occluded bilateral axillo-brachial artery disease following mRNA vaccination for COVID-19 successfully treated with endovascular therapy. The unusual pathogenesis of upper extremity arterial disease is reviewed and a review of endovascular treatment options is presented. A literature review of the types of vasculitis seen following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination is also presented.