The author is from the Department of Hospital Medicine, Calvert Health Medical Center, Prince Frederick, MD.
"Introduction
... Rhabdomyolysis is a clinical and laboratory syndrome resulting from an injury to skeletal muscles that results in myocyte destruction and the release of myoglobin, electrolytes, proteins (eg, CPK [creatine phosphokinase], aldolase, and LDH [lactate dehydrogenase]), and other toxic substances into circulating blood. In the kidneys, high concentrations of myoglobin can cause renal tubular obstruction and lead to renal failure.
... Here, the case of a patient who became severely ill with rhabdomyolysis [muscles break down and release toxins into blood and kidneys] and renal failure post-second dose Moderna vaccine is presented.
Case Presentation
[The] patient was an 85-year-old Caucasian woman, a homemaker, with a medical history of rheumatoid arthritis, hyperlipidemia, and asthma who was recently diagnosed with a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) 2 months prior. She came to the emergency room (ER) 2 days after receiving the second dose of the MODERNA COVID-19 vaccine with generalized weakness, muscle cramps, and loss of appetite. The patient had received the first dose of the MODERNA vaccine 30 days before receiving the second dose. The patient tolerated the first dose well, except for minor pain at the injection site...
Over the course of hospitalization, the patient became progressively weaker to a point where she could not even lift/move her hands or legs. Mentation started to decline, with patient intermittently getting confused or experiencing hallucinations. She developed 3+ pitting edema over the bilateral upper and lower extremities... An urgent temporary dialysis catheter was inserted and the patient subsequently received hemodialysis secondary to hypoxia from pleural effusion/anasarca and oliguria/renal failure...
... The patient ultimately had a cardiac arrest with subsequent fixed and dilated pupils causing suspicion of hypoxic/anoxic brain injury. After palliative care consultation, the patient’s family decided it was best to increase the patient’s comfort and care. The patient was terminally extubated and died the same day."
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8478340/
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