Bilateral giant cell arteritis with skin necrosis following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

dear editor, An 82‐year‐old man presented with a 4‐month history of headaches, jaw claudication, weight loss, bilateral temporoparietal skin necrosis and almost complete vision loss, which had developed about 10 days after his second SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination (BTN162b2). Cutaneous findings (a), fundoscopy (b), ultrasound (c), C‐reactive protein of 63 mg L−1 (normal range < 5) and biopsy of temporal arteries (d) confirmed bilateral late‐stage giant cell arteritis (GCA). Other vasculitides, as well as polymyalgia rheumatica, have been reported in association with SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination. Just like influenza and herpes zoster vaccines, SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccines may also trigger GCA. Clinicians must be aware of this rare but severe complication. ,

Author Contribution

Thilo Gambichler: Conceptualization (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (supporting); Supervision (lead); Validation (lead); Writing‐original draft (lead). Christos Krogias: Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (supporting); Validation (supporting); Writing‐review & editing (supporting). Iris Tischoff: Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (lead); Writing‐review & editing (supporting). Andrea Tannapfel: Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Supervision (supporting); Writing‐review & editing (supporting). Ralf Gold: Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Writing‐review & editing (supporting). Laura Susok: Conceptualization (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (supporting); Supervision (lead); Validation (supporting); Writing‐review & editing (supporting).