Cited by 62Multiple Sclerosis Research StudiesPeripheral Neuropathies and DisordersViral Infections and Immunology Research

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) following recent Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination

Open access
Permezel, Fiona, Borojevic, Branko, Lau, Stephanie, de Boer, Hans H.·2022·Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology

Abstract

This report describes the clinical context and autopsy findings in the first reported fatal case of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), developed after being vaccinated using the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. ADEM is a rare autoimmune disease, causing demyelination in the brain and spinal cord. A wide variety of precipitating factors can trigger ADEM, and it has long been known to be a rare adverse event following some types of vaccinations. Recently, ADEM has also been associated with COVID-19 infection and (very rarely) with COVID-19 vaccination. The reports of the latter however all pertain to living patients. Our case demonstrates that ADEM should be considered in patients developing neurological symptoms post COVID-19 vaccination, although that this adverse reaction is likely to remain extremely rare. Our report further emphasizes the added value of comprehensive post mortem investigation to confirm ante mortem diagnosis and to determine vaccination safety.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s12024-021-00440-7

Cites

31 of 31 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Although some case reports have suggested a possible association between COVID-19 vaccination and ADEM, there was no consistent pattern in terms of vaccine or timing following vaccination, and larger epidemiological studies have not confirmed any potential association.

    “Although some case reports have suggested a possible association between COVID-19 vaccination and ADEM, there was no consistent pattern in terms of vaccine or timing following vaccination, and larger epidemiological studies have not confirmed any potential association [41 -44].”

    From COVID-19 vaccines and adverse events of special interest: A multinational Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) cohort study of 99 million vaccinated individuals (2024) · cites this paper as [43]

    Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 32 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [3]3. Bennetto L, Scolding N. Inflammatory/post-infectious encepha- lomyelitis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2004. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1136/ jnnp. 2003. 034256.
  2. [6]6. Marchioni E, Ravaglia S, Piccolo G, et al. Postinfectious inflam- matory disorders: subgroups based on prospective follow-up. Neu- rology. 2005. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1212/ 01. wnl. 00001 79302. 93960. ad.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Permezel, F., Borojevic, B., Lau, S., & de Boer, H. H.
Affiliations
Austin Hospital (AU)
Venue
Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology
Published
2021-11-04
Volume
18
Issue
1
Pages
74-79
ISSN
  • 1547-769X (ISSN-L)
  • 1556-2891
OpenAlex
W3208126552
Cited by
62
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 27
FWCI
9.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Peripheral Neuropathies and Disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Viral Infections and Immunology Research
Keywords
acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, vaccine adverse events, demyelination, autoimmune disease, fatal outcome, autopsy, vaccine safety
MeSH terms
COVID-19, COVID-19 Vaccines, Brain, Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated, Humans, Vaccination

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review