COVID-19 and New Onset IgA Vasculitis: A Systematic Review of Case Reports

Immunoglobulin A vasculitis is historically more commonly found in children after certain viral infections such as Epstein-Barr, varicella virus, and parvovirus B19. COVID-19 has not been formally established in literature as a trigger for immunoglobulin A vasculitis. However, a main pathogenetic mechanism of COVID-19 is vascular damage, which makes it likely that vasculitis associated with COVID-19 (ie, COVID-19-mediated immunoglobulin A vasculitis) could be biologically plausible, with serious implications, especially for adults. The purpose of this review is to assist emergency nurses in gaining knowledge on the pathophysiology, symptoms, and treatment of COVID-19-mediated immunoglobulin A vasculitis.

A systematic search for case reports of COVID-19-associated immunoglobulin A vasculitis was conducted in the PubMed and Scopus electronic databases. The search terms used were COVID-19, coronavirus 2019, SARS COVID-19, and IgA vasculitis, case reports. The following were the inclusion criteria: publication dates between December 1, 2019, and December 1, 2021; full-text article, clinical case studies, and letters to the editor available electronically in English. The following were exclusion criteria: a summary of reports and newspaper publications.

Only 13 clinical cases met the inclusion criteria. The median age of patients described in the case reports were 38.1 years. Of them, 3 children were less than 5 years old. Twelve patients were male. In 7 of 13 cases of immunoglobulin A vasculitis, renal involvement was found.

The analysis of published clinical cases showed that COVID-19-associated immunoglobulin A vasculitis affected mostly adults and was characterized by a more severe course because of renal involvement. COVID-19 may be a possible trigger for immunoglobulin A-related disorders. More research is needed to better understand the relationship between immunoglobulin A vasculitis and COVID-19.