Rituximab-induced acute lympholysis and pancytopenia after COVID-19 vaccination

Victoria S Leung; Yuankai Lin

doi:10.1002/ccr3.4517

Rituximab-induced acute lympholysis and pancytopenia after COVID-19 vaccination

Clin Case Rep. 2021 Aug 16;9(8):e04517. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.4517. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Authors

Victoria S Leung¹, Yuankai Lin^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Pharmacy Department Veteran Affairs Central California Health Care System (VACCHCS) Fresno CA USA.
² Section of Hematology & Oncology Veteran Affairs Central California Health Care System (VACCHCS) Fresno CA USA.
³ Hematology and Oncology School of Medicine University of California San Francisco (UCSF) San Francisco CA USA.

Abstract

Rituximab and COVID-19 vaccine can cause massive hyperacute depletion of B cells and plasma cells, as well as subsequent cytokine release syndrome, coagulopathy, and pancytopenia. These effects differ from the adverse effects that have been reported for rituximab, and new guidelines regarding the timing of rituximab infusion and vaccination are urgently needed.

Keywords: COVID‐19 vaccine; lympholysis; pancytopenia; rituximab.

Publication types

Case Reports