Neuromuscular diseases (NMD) emerged as one of the main side effects of the COVID-19 vaccination. We pooled and summarized the evidence on the clinical features and outcomes of NMD associated with COVID-19 vaccination.
We comprehensively searched three databases, Medline, Embase, and Scopus, using the key terms covering “Neuromuscular disease” AND “COVID-19 vaccine”, and pooled the individual patient data extracted from the included studies.
A total of 258 NMD cases following COVID-19 have been reported globally, of which 171 cases were Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), 40 Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS), 22 Myasthenia Gravis (MG), 19 facial nerve palsy (FNP), 5 single fiber neuropathy, and 1 Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. All (100%) SFN patients and 58% of FNP patients were female; in the remaining NMDs, patients were predominantly male, including MG (82%), GBS (63%), and PTS (62.5%).
The median time from vaccine to symptom was less than 2 weeks in all groups. Symptoms mainly appeared following the first dose of vector vaccine, but there was no specific pattern for mRNA-based.
• Neuromuscular diseases (NMD) have emerged as a significant side effect of COVID-19 vaccination.
• The study provides a comprehensive summary of the clinical features and outcomes of NMD associated with COVID-19 vaccination.
• A total of 258 cases of NMD following COVID-19 vaccination were reported globally.
• The most commonly reported NMDs were Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS).
• Symptoms typically appeared within 2 weeks after vaccination, with a higher likelihood following the first dose of vector vaccine.
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