Thu. Oct 10th, 2024

Acute Arterial Ischemic Stroke Following COVID-19 Vaccination

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Background and Objectives Acute arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) has been reported as a rare adverse event following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with messenger RNA (mRNA) or viral vector vaccines. However, data are sparse regarding the risk of postvaccination AIS and its potential association with thrombotic-thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs), pharmacovigilance registries, registry-based studies, observational cohorts, and case-series was performed with the aim to calculate the following: (1) the pooled proportion of patients presenting with AIS following COVID-19 vaccination; (2) the prevalence of AIS after mRNA and vector-based vaccination; and (3) the proportion of TTS among postvaccination AIS cases. Patient characteristics were assessed as secondary outcomes.

Results Two RCTs, 3 cohort studies, and 11 registry-based studies comprising 17,481 AIS cases among 782,989,363 COVID-19 vaccinations were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled proportion of AIS following exposure to any COVID-19 vaccine type was 4.7 cases per 100,000 vaccinations (95% CI 2.2–8.1; I2 = 99.9%). The pooled proportion of AIS following mRNA vaccination (9.2 cases per 100,000 vaccinations; 95% CI 2.5–19.3; I2 = 99.9%) did not differ compared with adenovirus-based vaccination (2.9 cases per 100,000 vaccinations; 95% CI 0.3–7.8; I2 = 99.9%). No differences regarding demographics were disclosed between patients with AIS following mRNA-based or vector-based vaccination. The pooled proportion of TTS among postvaccination AIS cases was 3.1% (95% CI 0.7%–7.2%; I2 = 78.8%).

Discussion The pooled proportion of AIS following COVID-19 vaccination is comparable with the prevalence of AIS in the general population and much lower than the AIS prevalence among severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2–infected patients. TTS is very uncommonly reported in patients with AIS following COVID-19 vaccination.

Glossary

AIS=
acute ischemic stroke
COVID-19=
coronavirus disease 2019
CVST=
cerebral venous sinus thrombosis
LVO=
large vessel occlusion
mRNA=
messenger RNA
RCT=
randomized controlled clinical trial
SARS-CoV-2=
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
TTS=
thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome

Footnotes

  • Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.

  • * These authors contributed equally to this work as co–first authors.

  • Submitted and externally peer reviewed. The handling editor was Brad Worrall, MD, MSc, FAAN.

  • Editorial, page 597

  • COVID-19 Resources: NPub.org/COVID19

  • Received February 4, 2022.
  • Accepted in final form June 8, 2022.

Maria-Ioanna StefanouLina PalaiodimouDiana Aguiar de SousaAikaterini TheodorouEleni BakolaDimitrios Eleftherios KatsarosPanagiotis HalvatsiotisElias TzavellasAndroniki NaskaJonathan M. CoutinhoElse Charlotte SandsetEvangelos J. Giamarellos-BourboulisGeorgios Tsivgoulis source

 

Background and Objectives Acute arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) has been reported as a rare adverse event following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with messenger RNA (mRNA) or viral vector vaccines. However, data are sparse regarding the risk of postvaccination AIS and its potential association with thrombotic-thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs), pharmacovigilance registries, registry-based studies, observational cohorts, and case-series was performed with the aim to calculate the following: (1) the pooled proportion of patients presenting with AIS following COVID-19 vaccination; (2) the prevalence of AIS after mRNA and vector-based vaccination; and (3) the proportion of TTS among postvaccination AIS cases. Patient characteristics were assessed as secondary outcomes.

Results Two RCTs, 3 cohort studies, and 11 registry-based studies comprising 17,481 AIS cases among 782,989,363 COVID-19 vaccinations were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled proportion of AIS following exposure to any COVID-19 vaccine type was 4.7 cases per 100,000 vaccinations (95% CI 2.2–8.1; I2 = 99.9%). The pooled proportion of AIS following mRNA vaccination (9.2 cases per 100,000 vaccinations; 95% CI 2.5–19.3; I2 = 99.9%) did not differ compared with adenovirus-based vaccination (2.9 cases per 100,000 vaccinations; 95% CI 0.3–7.8; I2 = 99.9%). No differences regarding demographics were disclosed between patients with AIS following mRNA-based or vector-based vaccination. The pooled proportion of TTS among postvaccination AIS cases was 3.1% (95% CI 0.7%–7.2%; I2 = 78.8%).

Discussion The pooled proportion of AIS following COVID-19 vaccination is comparable with the prevalence of AIS in the general population and much lower than the AIS prevalence among severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2–infected patients. TTS is very uncommonly reported in patients with AIS following COVID-19 vaccination. source

Glossary

AISacute ischemic stroke
COVID-19= coronavirus disease 2019
CVST= cerebral venous sinus thrombosis
LVOlarge vessel occlusion
mRNA= messenger RNA
RCT= randomized controlled clinical trial
SARS-CoV-2= severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
TTSthrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome

 

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