Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine-associated tinnitus responds to transcranial magnetic stimulation – News-Medical.Net
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine was among the most celebrated breakthroughs of the ongoing pandemic. Along with the Moderna vaccine developed on the same platform, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has high efficacy against symptomatic infection and severe COVID-19; however, it also has some serious, though uncommon, adverse effects.
One rare side effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is vaccine-associa…….
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine was among the most celebrated breakthroughs of the ongoing pandemic. Along with the Moderna vaccine developed on the same platform, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has high efficacy against symptomatic infection and severe COVID-19; however, it also has some serious, though uncommon, adverse effects.
One rare side effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is vaccine-associated tinnitus, which can reduce the quality of life. A new QJM: An International Journal of Medicine study discusses one case in which this side effect was relieved with a brief course of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment.
Study: Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Associated Tinnitus and Treatment with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Image Credit: Image Source Trading Ltd / Shutterstock.com
Introduction
Tinnitus associated with the COVID-19 vaccine was first identified after the extensive rollout of these vaccines. Initially, this side effect was thought to be an inflammatory vaccine-induced immune response. Steroids were therefore considered to be appropriate management to reverse the inflammation, along with other anti-inflammatory agents.
Eventually, clinicians found that these patients did not report relief after a course of steroids, thus disproving the potentially inflammatory nature of this rare side effect.
Case study
In the current study, a woman received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. While she first experienced bilateral tinnitus in 2020, it remained stable thereafter.
The patient was managed for the condition with a tinnitus handicap index (THI) of 92, in 2021. Early that year, a high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan showed mild inflammation of the temporal bone, as with a previous patient. This was followed up with baseline pure tone audiometry (PTA) that showed mild sensorineural hearing loss at extreme high tones in the right ear and mild-to-moderate loss in the left ear.
From mid-May 2021, the patient was prescribed a low dosage of the antibiotic ceftriaxone and reported a slow reduction in tinnitus thereafter. The THI also decreased to 12 by the end of September 2021.
About a month later, the patient received her first dose of the vaccine and the second dose one month after. While she did not have any other side effects, her tinnitus began to worsen within three days, especially in the right ear. The THI went up to 96.
The PTA was repeated, showing more severe hearing loss that was again more extensive in the right ear. She was thought to have a cochlear disease associated with the vaccine and was prescribed the steroid protocol used at the authors’ center.
More specifically, the patient was prescribed a single 10 mg dose of dexamethasone intravenously followed by 5 mg …….
