Hypophysitis after COVID-19 vaccination in a patient with Rathke’s cleft cyst: A case report

ABSTRACT

With the widespread vaccination of COVID-19 vaccine, a few cases have been reported that COVID-19 vaccine may cause endocrine disorders. A 59-y-old man presented with a loss of appetite after the first COVID-19 vaccination, which resolved spontaneously after 3 d. After the second COVID-19 vaccination, the symptoms including the loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting reappeared and worsened along with loss of vision. He was found to have severe hyponatremia, and further investigations revealed secondary adrenal insufficiency, secondary hypothyroidism and Rathke’s cleft cyst. The patient responded well to glucocorticoid and levothyroxine supplementation, and at 1-y follow-up the patient developed hypogonadism. We hypothesize that hypophysitis is probably induced by COVID-19 vaccine and report the rare but serious adverse reactions for early recognition and intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 vaccination
• Rathke’s cleft cyst
• hypophysitis
• hyponatremia
• adverse reaction

Acknowledgments

We thank the patient for allowing us to share his details.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization, D.Z.; Investigation, Y.Y.Y., G.X.Z., and H.J.Z.; writing – original draft presentation, Y.Y.Y., and G.X.Z.; writing – review and editing, D.Z., and J.J.D.; visualization, H.J.G., and Y.M.B.; supervision, D.Z.

Ethical considerations

The patient signed written consent for publishing his information.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by Air Force Logistics Department under Grant number BKJ20J004.