J Yeungnam Med Sci.  2025;42(1):23. 10.12701/jyms.2025.42.23.

Unilateral lower extremity lymphedema followed by COVID-19 vaccination in patients with cervical cancer history: two case reports

• Jung JI
• Cho HK

• KMID: 2565593
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12701/jyms.2025.42.23

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic prompted the development of messenger RNA vaccines. Following extensive vaccination campaigns worldwide, several adverse reactions to these vaccines have been reported. This is a case series of unilateral lower extremity lymphedema after COVID-19 vaccination in two patients with a history of cervical cancer. An 82-year-old woman and a 68-year-old woman visited the outpatient clinic with unilateral leg edema after receiving a COVID-19 booster vaccine (BNT162b2; Pfizer-BioNTech) in the deltoid muscle. Both patients had a common history of cervical cancer treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy and were in complete remission. Gynecological evaluations, including laboratory and imaging studies, revealed no specific findings. Lymphoscintigraphy revealed delayed lymphatic drainage with diffuse dermal backflow in a unilateral lower extremity. This case series explores adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccination in patients who are at high risk of developing lymphedema, providing novel data for similar clinical presentations.

Keyword

COVID-19 vaccines; mRNA vaccines; Lower extremity; Lymphedema; Uterine cervical neoplasms