As the aftermath of the COVID-19 debacle unfolds worldwide, doctors are now scrambling to understand who could have COVID-19 vaccine-induced myopericarditis and be at risk of sudden death. Among a sea of vaccine-injured patients with a wide range of cardiac and neurologic symptoms, Sanada et al. found some clues in a 13-year-old boy who became symptomatic after his second dose of Pfizer and was diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) on day 15 after the shot.
Sanada Y, Azuma J, Hirano Y, Hasegawa Y, Yamamoto T. Overlapping Myocarditis and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome After COVID-19 Messenger RNA Vaccination: A Case Report. Cureus. 2022 Nov 2;14(11):e31006. doi: 10.7759/cureus.31006. PMID: 36475233; PMCID: PMC9717213.The child was treated with midodrine, an alpha-1 receptor agonist (similar to adrenalin). On day 33 he was admitted to the hospital and found to have an elevated troponin and was positive for inflammation and fluid in the pericardium consistent with myopericarditis. He was treated with IVIG [intravenous immune globulin] for the myocarditis which was the less serious of the two conditions in his case. The POTS required more than seven months of intensive treatment including midodrine, pregabalin, propranolol, droxidopa, and IV [intravenous] fluids. Sanada reports even after many months of treatment the boy could barely stand up at midday.
