Acute pancreatitis as an adverse effect of COVID-19 vaccination

Abstract

While vaccination against COVID-19 has significantly improved the morbidity and mortality of the disease, with the increase in the administration of COVID-19 vaccines, it is more likely to observe their rare side effects in the clinical settings. Herein, we report a case of an 82-year-old man with history of coronary artery disease, prostate cancer in remission, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and hypothyroidism, who presented with acute pancreatitis few hours after receiving the third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, without other identified etiology. His symptoms were mild and he was discharged in a stable condition after improvement in his condition with supportive care.

An unusual occurrence of autoimmune pancreatitis after gam‐Covid‐Vac (Sputnik V): A case report and literature review

“…The resolution of symptoms was observed at least 2 days later (median 8 days, minimum 2 days, maximum 6 weeks). The pancreatitis was mostly mild in six cases 12,13,15,19,20,22 and severe in the remaining cases. [16][17][18]21,24 Autoimmune pancreatitis has been reported with SARS-CoV-2 infection because pancreatic cells express ACE-2 receptors, a target of the Covid-19 virus, 26 which may precipitate the emergence of autoimmunity.…”

“…As shown in Table 1, pancreatitis occurred after the first dose of the Covid‐19 vaccine in eight patients, 12,14,16,18–22 and after the second dose in four cases 15,17,23,25 . Two cases of acute pancreatitis were identified after the third booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid‐19 mRNA vaccine 13 . Two patients agreed to have a second booster of the mRNA vaccine 18,20 .…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, 14 cases of pancreatitis have been reported after vaccination against SARS‐CoV‐2 12–25 . Twelve case reports of acute pancreatitis occurred within a brief period (10 hours to 7 days) administration of the mRNA vaccine (Pfizer‐BioNTech) 16–22 .…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, 14 cases of pancreatitis have been reported after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Twelve case reports of acute pancreatitis occurred within a brief period (10 hours to 7 days) administration of the mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech). [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] An isolated case of acute pancreatitis was thought to be related to inactivated Covid-19 vaccine (Sinopharm BIBP).…”

“…15,17,23,25 Two cases of acute pancreatitis were identified after the third booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 mRNA vaccine. 13 Two patients agreed to have a second booster of the mRNA vaccine. 18,20 Only one patient had a positive challenge with recurrence of pancreatitis after the second dose of booster vaccine.…”