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New onset of protein-losing enteropathy in a patient with Fontan circulation after COVID-19 vaccination: dread the cure or the disease?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2025

Polona Kacar*
Affiliation:
Adult Congenital Heart Centre and National Centre for Pulmonary Hypertension, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College, London, UK
Giulia Iannaccone
Affiliation:
Adult Congenital Heart Centre and National Centre for Pulmonary Hypertension, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College, London, UK Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
Ella McDonnell
Affiliation:
Adult Congenital Heart Centre and National Centre for Pulmonary Hypertension, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College, London, UK
Claudia Montanaro
Affiliation:
Adult Congenital Heart Centre and National Centre for Pulmonary Hypertension, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College, London, UK National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK Department of Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology and Heart Lung Transplant, Bambino Gesu’ Children’s Hospital IRCCS, Rome, Italy
*
Corresponding author: Polona Kacar; Email: [email protected]

Abstract

We present the case of a 31-year-old female with Fontan circulation who developed signs of protein-losing enteropathy 10 days after second COVID-19 vaccination. After standard investigations for identification of potential triggers for protein-losing enteropathy, we concluded that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) booster vaccination could have been the most probable underlying trigger. Prompt investigation of new symptoms post-vaccination in high-risk patients is necessary.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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