Radiology: Parsonage-Turner syndrome after COVID-19 vaccine

Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS; neuropathic muscular atrophy) is a rare peripheral neuropathy characterized by sudden onset of severe upper arm pain followed by muscle weakness

Vaccination is one of several known triggers of Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS)

After vaccination PT usually immune occurred 28 days after vaccination, the vaccination early in the day there are reports

From February to March 2021, two patients received 3T magnets for clinically suspected PT 13 hours after receiving Pfizer-Biontech (BNT162B2) new coronary pneumonia vaccine and 18 days after receiving Moderna (mRNA-1273) new coronary pneumonia vaccine.

Patient 1: A 49-year-old male, 13 hours after receiving the first dose of BNT162B2 vaccine (Pfizer Biotech), was awakened by a severe electrical sting on the inner side of his left forearm

MR neuroimaging showed a significant pattern of denervated edema in the internal pronator teres (PT) and flexor carpi radialis (FCR) muscles of the forearm (Figure 1A)

Patient 2: A 44-year-old healthy man, 18 days after receiving the second dose of mRNA-1273 in the same arm, suffered a sudden severe spastic pain in the left deltoid muscle

Five weeks after the onset of symptoms, MR neurography of the left brachial plexus showed enlarged suprascapular nerve, T2-weighted signal hyperintensity, and multiple focal hourglass-like contractions (Figure 2A), accompanied by supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles The pattern of denervation edema (Figure 2B)

Magnetic resonance neuroimaging is a useful tool for diagnosing PT, and it may be particularly relevant as new coronary pneumonia vaccination increases worldwide

Original source

Parsonage-Turner Syndrome Following COVID-19 Vaccination: MR Neurography.