Guidance on diagnosis and management of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis after a COVID-19 vaccine
Last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) lifted the pause in administration of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. The temporary pause was due to reports of a serious condition called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), which refers to blood clots in the brain's veins - not in the arteries, as is the case for most strokes - in combination with thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count).
CVST and thrombocytopenia together is called thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). When TTS is linked to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, it is called vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). CVST has also been associated with cases of TTS in adults who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine available in Europe, according to the European Medicines Agency, the agency responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety of medicines in the European Union.