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. 2022 Apr 21;139(16):2565–2569. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021015149

Table 1.

Clinical characteristics of iTTP episodes following COVID-19 vaccination

All Median (range) or n (%) Patient #1 Patient #2 Patient #3 Patient #4 Patient #5 Patient #6 Patient #7 Patient #8 Patient #9 Patient #10
Age 57 (20-70) 36 54 60 60 38 68 66 70 22 20
Sex Woman: 5 (50) Woman Man Woman Woman Man Man Man Woman Man Woman
Previous medical history SLE iTTP iTTP MCTDiTTP Ischemic strokes, hypertension SLE
Vaccine BNT162b2 mRNA1273 BNT162b2 BNT162b2 BNT162b2 BNT162b2 ChAdOx1 ChAdOx1 BNT162b2 BNT162b2
nCoV-19 nCoV-19
Dose First: 8 (80) First First First First Second First First First Second First
Days since last dose 15 (6-30) 6 23 10 12 30 17 8 10 18 25
Type of episode First: 7 (70) First Relapse Relapse First First Relapse First First First First
Years since last episode* 19 27 6
Clinical presentation Bruising, headache Bruising, diffuse mucocutaneous bleeding, headache, amnesia Cerebellar syndrome Cerebellar syndrome, aphasia, confusion, chest pain Fever, headache, hemiparesis, bruising Dizziness Facial paralysis Comahemiparesis Coma, seizures, purpura, fever SLE Flare: polyarthritis, erythema
Biology at diagnosis
 Hemoglobin, g/dL 8.0 (6.5-11.5) 10.0 11.5 10.8 6.5 6.6 10.9 7.9 8.0 6.8 5.3
 Platelets, ×109/L 14 (6-39) 10 17 27 20 9 39 11 6 10 51
 Schistocytes, % 3 (1-6) 3 2 2 6 5 1 4 2 + 3
 Creatinine, mg/dL 0.95 (0.76-1.70) 0.98 1.70 0.76 0.92 1.01 0.79 0.93 0.90 1.15 1.00
 Troponin elevated 7 (70) + + + + + + +
 Fibrinogen, g/L 3 (2.4-6.7) 2,8 2.4 3.0 3.6 2.9 3.0 6.7 NA NA 3.7
 D-dimers, FEU 1571 (726-3768) 726 NA NA NA 3768 NA 1200 1942 NA NA
 ADAMTS13 activity, % <5 <5 <10 5 <1 2 <5 11 6 <10
 Anti-ADAMTS13 Abs§ 0.5 BU/mL 1.1 BU/mL + 52 U/mL + 140 U/mL + 50 U/mL
 Anti-PF4 Abs NA NA NA NA
French score 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
Treatment
 TPE (number) 4 (0-38) 8 3 3 3 38 4 5 0 17 0
 Corticosteroids 10 (100) + + + + + + + + + +
 Rituximab 8 (80) + + + + + + + +
 Caplacizumab 6 (60) + + + + + +
 Others 2 (20) IVIg, plasma infusionǁ Plasma infusionǁ
Outcome Clinical remission Clinical remission Clinical remission Clinical remission Exacerbation under TPE, clinical remission Clinical remission Clinical remission Death 2 mo after presentation Clinical remission Clinical remission
Rechallenge 1 (10) 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 0
Vaccine BNT162b2

Abs, antibodies; BU, Bethesda units; FEU, fibrinogen equivalent units; IVIg, intravenous immunoglobulins; MCTD, mixed connective tissue disease; NA, not available; PF4, platelet factor 4; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; TPE, therapeutic plasma exchange; +, yes; —, no.

*

Due to the long delay since the last episode, these patients no longer had regular follow-up; consequently, no recent ADAMTS13 activity before vaccination is available.

Defined as above the upper limit of normal value.

ADAMTS13 activity measurement was performed after initiation of immunosuppressive therapy.

§

The presence of anti-ADAMTS13 antibodies was assessed either as the titer of total autoantibodies (inhibitory and noninhibitory) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay expressed in arbitrary units (U/mL; the value of at least 25 U/mL was considered positive) or as the titer of inhibitory antibodies using a Bethesda assay expressed in Bethesda units (BU/mL), with 1 BU corresponding to the amount of inhibitor in 1 mL of plasma neutralizing 50% of ADAMTS13 activity of control levels (the value of at least 1.0 BU/mL was assumed to be positive).

ǁ

In these 2 patients, TPE was omitted. Patient #8 was very comorbid and TPE was deemed too invasive. Hence, ADAMTS13 replacement was performed with plasma infusion only. In patient #10, initial presentation was a lupus flare with mild features of thrombotic microangiopathy. Initial treatment only included high-dose corticosteroids, leading to a rapid improvement of both lupus symptoms and thrombocytopenia. Later, ADAMTS13 activity confirmed the diagnosis of iTTP, and only plasma infusion was added to corticosteroids until complete remission.