Wu Chih-Feng, Chen Wan-Ting, Chen Yen-Lin, Liu Feng-Cheng
School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan.
Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Sep 20;59(9):1688. doi: 10.3390/medicina59091688.
An increase in skin-related autoimmune disorders has been reported as an adverse effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. We present the case of a 90-year-old Taiwanese female who was newly diagnosed with anti-transcription intermediary factor 1-gamma (anti-TIF1-γ)-positive dermatomyositis (DM) after receiving a second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Under treatment with prednisolone and monoclonal antibody therapy of abatacept, her skin lesions improved, and her muscle power increased. The serum creatinine phosphokinase level decreased from 4858 to 220 U/L, and the anti-TIF1-γ antibody titer decreased from 202 to 99. Flow cytometry data showed an increase in T cells, while NK cells, B cells (CD19), and plasma blasts all decreased. These findings suggest that standard DM treatment might be beneficial to patients with COVID-19 vaccine-induced DM.