Study finds increased risk of POTS after SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID vaccination

In a recent News & Views article published in the journal Nature cardiovascular researchresearchers tested against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination.

study: Risk of POTS after COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection: Worth a try. Image Credit: Starocean/Shutterstock.com

Background

COVID-19 vaccination is effectively mitigating the current pandemic worldwide. However, several studies have reported adverse events after vaccination, with increasing reports of several neurological and cardiovascular symptoms, including POTS.

POTS is a common autonomic nervous system disorder characterized by tachycardia on standing for 10 minutes or an increase of 30 beats per minute or more and symptoms of orthostatic intolerance. Symptoms of POTS include palpitations, presyncope, general weakness, light-headedness, nausea, and headaches lasting more than 3 months.

Previous studies documented bacterial or viral infections, surgical procedures, pregnancy, vaccination, puberty, and concussion as POTS triggers, with an infection-to-vaccination ratio of 6.8. New POTS has been reported to occur after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. However, data on the association between COVID-19 vaccination and POTS are limited and require further investigation.

In the current article, researchers present POTS as an acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), showing a modest rise in the rate of new POTS diagnoses after COVID-19 vaccination, but a fivefold increase in recent years. summarizes the key findings of the study. Lower than after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

About research

Electronic health record (EHR) data from 284,592 COVID-19 vaccinees and 12,460 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals were analyzed. The sample population for this study consisted of her 300,000 COVID-19 vaccinees in Los Angeles County, United States.

Findings showed 0.3% new POTS diagnoses after COVID-19 vaccination compared to 0.2% new POTS diagnoses in the pre-COVID-19 vaccination period. This resulted in an odds ratio (OR) value of 1.5 for new POTS diagnoses after COVID-19 vaccination.

The likelihood of new-onset POTS and POTS-related diagnoses was greater within 3 months after COVID-19 vaccination compared to within 3 months before vaccination, with a 33.0% increase in relative risk. His odds of a new POTS-related diagnosis after SARS-CoV-2 infection were more than five times higher compared to the period after COVID-19 vaccination. The ratio of SARS-CoV-2 infections to COVID-19 vaccination was 5.4.

Assimilating all new-onset POTS-related diagnoses resulted in slightly lower odds. Among SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals, the incidence of new-onset POTS post-COVID-19 was 2% compared to 3% post-COVID-19. Therefore, the SARS-CoV-2-infected person had a higher risk of developing her POTS than after COVID-19 vaccination.

The risk of new-onset POTS diagnoses and POTS-related diagnoses was fairly frequent compared with myocarditis. The risk of developing myocarditis was greater after COVID-19 vaccination. However, myocarditis was a rarely observed post-vaccination complication.

Conclusion

Overall, the findings of this study showed that new-onset POTS and POTS-related diagnoses occurred more frequently after COVID-19 vaccination compared to the pre-vaccination period.

Nevertheless, the rate of new POTS diagnoses was more than five times higher after COVID-19 compared with post-vaccination. The findings support the importance of vaccination and can be used by healthcare professionals to help reduce public resistance to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The findings of this study, like other established post-vaccination conditions such as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome, suggest that autonomic neuropathy is a side effect of COVID-19 vaccination that must be recognized and further investigated. Established ataxia and new POTS. Moreover, these results reconfirm that her POTS, which is newly developed, is a potentially important PASC phenotype.

As health authorities and governments around the world continue to develop and implement COVID-19 mitigation policies and strategies to prevent the long-term adverse effects of COVID-19, research and development efforts are needed to better understand POTS diagnosis and treatment approaches. Future research and investment in investment is required. more important.

Research limitations

Findings were restricted to specific populations, which limited their generalizability. Some individuals affected by POTS may have recovered after the 90-day evaluation period. Therefore, her incidence of new-onset POTS and her incidence of POTS-related diagnoses may be overestimated.