Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: White blood cell count
Clinical narrative: seven cases of acute myocarditis or myopericarditis in healthy male adolescents who presented with chest pain all within four days after the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination.; This is a literature report. This Physician reported similar events for seven patients. This is the seventh of seven reports.  Introduction: On 11Dec2020, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for prevention of COVID-19 for individuals 16 years of age and older.1. On 10May2021, the FDA revised the EUA for this vaccine to include children 12 years and older. The Pfizer vaccine remains the only vaccine with an EUA for 12-to 17-year-old children. This vaccine demonstrated 94-95% efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection in 16- 55-year-old participants, and 100% efficacy in the 12-15 years old age group. Systemic reactogenicity occurred more commonly in younger patients and after the second dose of vaccine. Post-immunization myocarditis is a known rare adverse event following other vaccinations, particularly following smallpox vaccination. Recently the news media has highlighted reports of myocarditis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination involving patients and patients from another country. The cohort identified a male predominance with an incidence of 1/20,000 (men aged 18 to 30 years old). However, a conclusive causal link to vaccination has not been confirmed at this time. Additionally, two recently published case reports describe myocarditis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in a 56-year-old man with previous COVID-19 and a 39-year-old man with no history of COVID-19. This report summarizes case histories of 7 healthy male adolescents 14 to 19 years of age who developed acute myocarditis or myopericarditis within 4 days after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, none of whom met criteria for MIS-C. All 7 patients were vaccinated in April and May of 2021 and have been reported to VAERS. Patient 7: A 14-year-old previously well male presented to an urgent care clinic with pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath two days after receiving his second Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. A measured fever of 38.3 C began the day of vaccination. He had no recent or remote history of viral illness, and no known COVID-19 exposures. ECG showed ST segment elevation consistent with acute pericarditis. Additional evaluation included an echocardiogram which showed mildly depressed left and right ventricular systolic function and elevated troponin I (22.1 ng/mL, normal range, <0.045 ng/mL). His maximum temperature was 38.6o C on the day of admission. A nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 PCR and serum nucleocapsid antibody were both negative. On hospital day 3, cardiac MRI showed areas with high T2 values indicating edema, T1 early postcontrast heterogeneity indicating hyperemia, and late gadolinium enhancement indicating myocardial fibrosis, all primarily in the subepicardial mid and apical left ventricle free wall. He was treated with NSAIDs (ketorolac 30 mg once, followed by naproxen 250 mg every 12 hours) and furosemide. Echocardiogram was improved one day after admission. He was discharged on hospital day 4 based on improvement of symptoms and ejection fraction; the troponin had declined to 8.02 ng/ml. His final diagnosis was myopericarditis. On follow-up 13 days later, he appeared well, but reported chest pain with exertion despite instructions to avoid strenuous exercise. An ECG showed non-specific T wave changes and echocardiogram was normal. Exposure to COVID-19 in 14 days prior to illness onset was None. The patient was hospitalized for 4 days. The patient underwent lab tests and procedures which included activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged: 35.6 seconds, alanine aminotransferase: 38 (units/L), aspartate aminotransferase: 87 (units/L), blood albumin: 3.5 g/dl, brain natriuretic peptide: 107.9 pg/ml, c-reactive protein: 7.7 mg/dl, echocardiogram: Mildly depressed RV and LV systolic function  (LVEF 47%), electrocardiogram: ST elevation, low  voltage of  extremity leads, international normalised ratio: 1.2, lymphocyte count: 1.05 cells/ul, magnetic resonance imaging: LGE (subepicardial) involving mid and apical LV free wall, myocardial edema, hyperemia, neutrophil count: 4.73 cells/ul, platelet count: 208 cells/ul, prothrombin time: 14.8 seconds, red blood cell sedimentation rate: 10 mmol, ferritin: 84 ug/L, troponin: 22.1 ng/ml, Peripheral white blood: 8.11 cells/uL, Adenovirus diagnostics Negative, Cytomegalovirus diagnostics Negative, Other diagnostics: Negative, Parvovirus IgM, positive, Parvovirus IgG, antibody, negative, Mycoplasma PCR (throat swab), Enterovirus diagnostics: Negative serum PCR, Epstein-Barr virus diagnostics: Negative serology, Respiratory pathogen panel PCR: Negative. Discussion: Author report 7 cases of clinical myocarditis or myopericarditis that developed in 14 to 19-year-old males within 4 days of receiving the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with no evidence of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and who did not fulfill criteria for MIS-C. Extensive diagnostic evaluation for other myocarditis etiologies was negative, including respiratory pathogens from nasopharyngeal swabs, serum PCR tests, and infectious serologies. Additionally, all cardiac MRIs were diagnostic for myocarditis based on the modified  criteria rather than MIS-C characteristics described by (withheld) et al (diffuse myocardial edema without evidence of late gadolinium enhancement). There was some suggestion of abnormal left ventricular myocardial echocardiographic strain corresponding to regions of myocardial necrosis on cardiac MRI. All patients in this series had myocarditis or myopericarditis, which is the term for diagnosis of both myocardial and pericardial inflammation. These terms are often used interchangeably, which can make surveillance of these diseases challenging. Myocarditis and pericarditis are rare diseases. The true baseline incidence of myocarditis is unknown and varies by season, geography, and age: it has been reported to occur in 1.95/100,000 person- years in children <15 years of age in another country and in 2.16 cases per 100,000 in a 30-day period. It is more common in males, and among children demonstrates a bimodal incidence pattern, with peaks at <2 years of age and in adolescence. An evaluation for potential viral causes is recommended, although a cause is usually not found. There have been prior reports of myocarditis following smallpox vaccination10. In patients with myocarditis, restriction from competitive sports is recommended for at least 3 months until cleared by a cardiologist in order to avoid sudden cardiac events while the heart muscle recovers. Less is known about the true incidence of pericarditis. Pericarditis can occur in the setting of a variety of infectious and non-infectious illnesses. In a study of patients more than16 years of age in another country, the incidence rate of hospitalizations for acute pericarditis was 3.32/100,000 person-years, with males at higher risk than females and in 2007, the incidence of acute pericarditis in one study was 27.2 cases per 100,000 per year. Treatment for myocarditis and pericarditis may vary considerably depending on the patient characteristics, clinical condition, underlying cause, and physician preference. Consistent with a known male preponderance of myocarditis and pericarditis, all seven of our cases were male. The Pfizer-BioNTech clinical trials demonstrated an increased systemic reactogenicity and immunogenicity in younger study participants following mRNA vaccine. For example, 41.5% of adolescents developed chills after dose #2, compared to 35.1% of subjects 18-55 years of age. In terms of immunogenicity, an analysis of SARS-CoV-2 50% neutralizing titers 1 month after dose#2 demonstrated higher geometric mean titer (GMT) in children 12-15 years of age (GMT=1,239.5), compared to subjects 16-25 years of age (GMT=705.1). Adverse events often occurred more frequently after dose #2 and within 2 days following vaccination and included injection site pain, fatigue, myalgia, chills, arthralgia, fever, injection site swelling or redness, nausea, malaise, and lymphadenopathy. It is possible that myocarditis or myopericarditis may be an additional rare adverse event related to systemic reactogenicity, but currently no causal association has been established between this vaccine and myopericarditis. In our case series, 6 patients received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) treatment. Four patients received IVIG and oral prednisone; one of these four patients also initially received high-dose methylprednisolone. The recognition of a possible temporal relationship of COVID-19 vaccine and myocarditis is critical, because the correct diagnosis may spare healthy adolescents and young adults presenting with chest pain and ECG ST elevation from undergoing unnecessary invasive medical procedures such as cardiac catheterization. It is unclear if treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and/or corticosteroids, in the absence of MIS-C criteria, is warranted with all cases of myocarditis that develop temporally after COVID-19 vaccination. Notably, 3 patients recovered with NSAID therapy alone. Myocarditis and myopericarditis after COVID-19 vaccination appear rare. As of 23May2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 1,560,652 people <18 years of age have completed a two-dose series of COVID-19 vaccine17. Of these, 652, 758 adolescents received their second dose more than fourteen days ago17. Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is the only COVID-19 vaccine authorized for children <18 years of age. We urge physicians and healthcare providers to consider myocarditis in the evaluation of adolescents and young adults who develop chest pain after COVID-19 vaccination. All cases of myocarditis in patients with recent COVID-19 vaccination should be reported promptly to VAERS. Our case series has inherent limitations. We compiled cases through personal communications between colleagues rather than using a systematic surveillance system to identify cases. It was not possible to exclude all alternative etiologies including idiopathic and other infectious etiologies, and there was not a systematic diagnostic evaluation for other viral etiologies. Cardiac biopsy was not performed on any patients, because they were all clinically stable during hospitalization. However, no patient had evidence of a preceding or concurrent symptomatic viral illness to implicate as an etiology of myocarditis, and the lack of eosinophilia dissuades a hypersensitivity reaction. The pathophysiology of myocarditis in these patients is indeterminate and we do not know if it is the same or different than classic myopericarditis or myopericarditis following other vaccines, associated with acute COVID-19, or MIS-C. Given the nature of a case series, we cannot determine the incidence rate of myocarditis/myopericarditis following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. Finally, a negative nucleocapsid antibody does not conclusively rule out the possibility of natural infection. This report summarizes a series of cases of myocarditis and myopericarditis following the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in adolescent males. All cases in this report occurred after the second vaccine dose. Fortunately, none of our patients was critically ill and each was discharged home. At present, there is no definite causal relationship between these cases and vaccine administration.  No follow-up attempts are possible; information about lot/batch number cannot be obtained.; Sender's Comments: Based on chronological connection to the vaccine causality between reported event acute myocarditis and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine cannot be completely excluded. The impact of this report on the benefit/risk profile of the Pfizer product is evaluated as part of Pfizer procedures for safety evaluation, including the review and analysis of aggregate data for adverse events. Any safety concern identified as part of this review, as well as any appropriate action in response, will be promptly notified to Regulatory Authorities, Ethics Committees and Investigators, as appropriate.,Linked Report(s) : US-PFIZER INC-2021665013 Same reporter, drug, event but different patient