Neurologic Safety Monitoring of COVID-19 Vaccines: Lessons From the Past to Inform the Present.

The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has triggered a global effort to rapidly develop and deploy effective and safe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations. Vaccination has been one of the most effective medical interventions in human history, although potential safety risks of novel vaccines must be monitored, identified, and quantified. Adverse events must be carefully assessed to define whether they are causally associated with vaccination or coincidence.

Incidence of meningeal enhancement on brain MRI secondary to lumbar puncture.

Background: Concern for reactive meningeal enhancement after lumbar puncture (LP) is a common reason for performing brain MRI prior to LP. We sought to determine actual incidence of unexplained meningeal enhancement after LP.

Methods: We collected results from all contrasted brain MRIs in patients admitted to adult neurology at a New York City hospital over a 3-year period.