Seven healthy male adolescents developed acute myocarditis or myopericarditis within 4 days after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with all patients rapidly resolving symptoms.
Case Report (n=7)
This case series highlights a potential rare safety signal of acute myocarditis in healthy male adolescents following the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with all reported cases showing rapid symptom resolution.
Trials of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination included limited numbers of children, so they may not have detected rare but important adverse events in this population. We report 7 cases of acute myocarditis or myopericarditis in healthy male adolescents who presented with chest pain all within 4 days after the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination. Five patients had fever around the time of presentation. Acute COVID-19 was ruled out in all 7 cases on the basis of negative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test results of specimens obtained by using nasopharyngeal swabs. None of the patients met criteria for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Six of the 7 patients had negative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 nucleocapsid antibody assay results, suggesting no previous infection. All patients had an elevated troponin. Cardiac MRI revealed late gadolinium enhancement characteristic of myocarditis. All 7 patients resolved their symptoms rapidly. Three patients were treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs only, and 4 received intravenous immunoglobulin and corticosteroids. In this report, we provide a summary of each adolescent's clinical course and evaluation. No causal relationship between vaccine administration and myocarditis has been established. Continued monitoring and reporting to the US Food and Drug Administration Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System is strongly recommended.
Marshall et al. (Fri,) conducted a case report in Acute myocarditis or myopericarditis (n=7). Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination was evaluated on Acute myocarditis or myopericarditis. Seven healthy male adolescents developed acute myocarditis or myopericarditis within 4 days after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with all patients rapidly resolving symptoms.