CEREBRAL VENOUS THROMBOSIS AFTER COVID-19 VACCINATION. CASE REPORT

Abstract

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare complication in recipients of the adenovirus-vectored
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine ChAdOx1 nCov-19 (Vaxzevria®; AstraZeneca®). So far, the
majority of CVST cases after ChAdOx1 were women under 60 years old with predisposing prothrombotic risk factors presenting with thrombocytopenia in the context of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic
thrombopenia (VITT) syndrome. Non-VITT CVST cases are extremely rare. In this report we present two
CVST cases, one 59-year-old male and one 71-year-old female, with no previous risk factors or evidence of
VITT syndrome that were successfully treated with low-molecular weight heparin. Clinical research findings
on the matter and pathogenic mechanisms are briefly discussed. Although definite causality remains to be
proven, clinicians should be suspicious of CVST in recipients of ChAdOx1 even in the absence of thrombocytopenia or prothrombotic risk factors.