Histopathological Patterns of Cutaneous Adverse Reaction to Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines: The Integrative Role of Skin Biopsy
Gerardo Cazzato,
Francesca Ambrogio,
Maria Carla Pisani,
Anna Colagrande,
Francesca Arezzo,
Eliano Cascardi,
Miriam Dellino,
Enrica Macorano,
Irma Trilli,
Paola Parente,
Teresa Lettini,
Paolo Romita,
Andrea Marzullo,
Giuseppe Ingravallo,
Caterina Foti
Affiliations
Gerardo Cazzato
Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Francesca Ambrogio
Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Maria Carla Pisani
Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Anna Colagrande
Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Francesca Arezzo
Section of Gynecology and Obstetrics, IRCSS Giovanni Paolo II, 70124 Bari, Italy
Eliano Cascardi
Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
Miriam Dellino
Section of Gynecology and Obstetrics, IRCSS Giovanni Paolo II, 70124 Bari, Italy
Enrica Macorano
Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Irma Trilli
Odontomatostologic Clinic, Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Chieti “G. D’Annunzio”, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Paola Parente
Pathology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
Teresa Lettini
Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Paolo Romita
Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Andrea Marzullo
Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Giuseppe Ingravallo
Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Caterina Foti
Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
The advent of vaccines represented a milestone to allow the slowing down and then containing of the exponential increase in ongoing infections and deaths of COVID-19. Since the first months of the vaccination campaign in various continents, there has been a certain number of reports of adverse events, including skin reactions. We conducted a systematic review, searching on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library for the words: COVID vaccine, dermatopathology, skin, eruptions, rash, cutaneous, BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), ChAdOX1 (AstraZeneca), and mRNA-1273 (Moderna). A total of 28 records were initially identified in the literature search of which two were duplicates. After screening for eligibility and inclusion criteria, 18 publications were ultimately included. Various clinical cutaneous manifestations and histopathological patterns following vaccination have been described in literature. The most frequent clinical-pathological presentations were erythematous maculo-papular eruptions in different way of distribution with histopathological pictures mostly represented by interface changes and mixed peri-vascular and peri-adnexal cell infiltrate. Other presentations included new onset of pemphigoid bullous disease (n = 15), delayed T-cell-mediated hypersensitivity reaction (injection site reactions) (n = 10), purpuric skin rash (n = 13), mostly localized on the legs bilaterally and symmetrically with histological pictures characterized by extravasation of erythrocytes in the superficial and middle dermis, and other types of reactions. New studies with large case series and further literature reviews are needed to improve the clinical management of patients and optimize the timeline for carrying out histological biopsy for confirmatory, supportive, and differential diagnosis purposes.