Complement-Mediated Thrombotic Microangiopathy Related to COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination

Introduction: Infectious diseases and vaccinations are trigger factors for thrombotic microangiopathy. Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic could have an effect on disease manifestation or relapse in patients with atypical hemolytic syndrome/complement-mediated thrombotic microangiopathy (aHUS/cTMA).

Methods: We employed the Vienna TMA cohort database to examine the incidence of COVID-19 related and of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-related relapse of aHUS/cTMA among patients previously diagnosed with aHUS/cTMA during the first 2.5 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. We calculated incidence rates, including respective confidence intervals (CIs) and used Cox proportional hazard models for comparison of aHUS/cTMA episodes following infection or vaccination.

Results: Among 27 patients with aHUS/cTMA, 13 infections triggered 3 (23%) TMA episodes, whereas 70 vaccinations triggered 1 TMA episode (1%; odds ratio 0.04; 95% CI 0.003-0.37,  = 0.01). In total, the incidence of TMA after COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was 6 cases per 100 patient years (95% CI 0.017-0.164) (4.5/100 patient years for COVID-19 and 1.5/100 patient years for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination). The mean follow-up time was 2.31 ± 0.26 years (total amount: 22,118 days; 62.5 years) to either the end of the follow-up or TMA relapse (outcome). Between 2012 and 2022 we did not find a significant increase in the incidence of aHUS/cTMA.

Conclusion: COVID-19 is associated with a higher risk for aHUS/cTMA recurrence when compared to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Overall, the incidence of aHUS/cTMA after COVID-19 infection or SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is low and comparable to that described in the literature.