Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Myocarditis: A Histopathologic Study on a Monocentric Series of Six Cases
Hyo-Suk Ahn,
Yuran Ahn,
Jaehyuk Jang,
Seonghyun Bu,
Sungmin Lim,
Chanjoon Kim,
Jong-Min Lee,
Kyungji Lee,
Kyung-Jin Seo
Affiliations
Hyo-Suk Ahn
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Yuran Ahn
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Jaehyuk Jang
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Seonghyun Bu
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Sungmin Lim
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Chanjoon Kim
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Jong-Min Lee
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Kyungji Lee
Midwest International Research Institute, Midwest University, 851 Parr Rd., Wentzville, MO 63385, USA
Kyung-Jin Seo
Department of Hospital Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Many reports on the development of myocarditis following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination (PCVM) have emerged. However, only a few case studies have investigated endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) results. This study describes the clinicopathologic features of PCVM. We surveyed all hospitalized patients in a single university hospital in Korea and identified six cases of PCVM. All six patients underwent EMB, five of whom were men aged 15–85 years. All patients developed cardiac dysfunction. Among these patients, two had mild disease without sequelae, whereas the other four had dilated cardiomyopathy with depressed cardiac function. All six cases demonstrated lymphohistiocytic myocarditis. Two of our cases fulfilled the criterion of CD3+ T lymphocytes > 7 cells/mm2 (Case nos. 3 and 6), while the remaining four cases did not fulfill the Dallas criteria. In conclusion, most PCVM cases showed mild degree inflammation histopathologically, and some cases could not fulfill the Dallas criteria and were classified as borderline myocarditis.
