A published paper documents two men who received pulmonary hypertension after the second dose of the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine..The study Case Report: Two Case Reports of Pulmonary Hypertension after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination was published in September in Diseases..A doctor who co-authored the paper, and is one of the two documented cases, reached out to the Western Standard..“I came across your article on Dr Hoffe’s observation of sudden onset pulmonary hypertension in patients after receiving mRNA vaccination,” wrote Dr. Robert D. Sullivan in an email..“I know Dr. Hoffe is right because this happened to me. I’m a practicing physician and suffered acute onset pulmonary hypertension in February 2021 just three weeks after my second COVID mRNA shot.”.After Sullivan developed the condition, he reached out to Dr. Suzuki of Georgetown University in Washington DC. Suzuki demonstrated in December 2020 the spike protein in SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, caused pulmonary arterial damage and proliferation in a tissue culture model of pulmonary hypertension..The mechanism for the Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine was to make the body’s cells produce the spike protein of the virus in massive quantities, the same spike protein shown by Suzuki to cause pulmonary hypertension..“Pulmonary hypertension is a serious disease characterized by damage to lung vasculature and restricted blood flow through narrowed arteries from the right to left heart. The onset of symptoms is typically insidious, progressive and incurable, leading to right heart failure and premature death," Suzuki and Sullivan explain in the paper..“We report here two cases of sudden onset pulmonary hypertension in the absence of pulmonary emboli and representing a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer BNT162b2) as a possible primary cause of pulmonary hypertension. The timing of 2 to 3 weeks after the second dose and flu-like symptoms suggests an immune-mediated mechanism.".Case one, a “previously healthy 49-year-old male physician athlete,” is Sullivan himself, a practicing anaethesiologist in Maryland..“Approximately three weeks after the second dose, the patient suddenly developed severe fatigue, flu-like symptoms, tachycardia, palpitations, orthostasis, right-sided chest pressure and dyspnea on exertion,” the paper explains, adding he tested negative for COVID-19 at the time..“The estimated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) of 42 mmHg was interpreted as mild/moderate pulmonary hypertension.”.However, that’s not all that went wrong with the doctor..“The patient subsequently developed 15 pounds of fluid gain and generalized swelling, neck pressure, headaches and a feeling of “being hung upside down” consistent with jugular vein distention (JVD) and cerebral venous congestion. The resting oxygen saturation (SpO2) was 92% and there was new onset systolic and diastolic arterial hypertension. Symptoms and chest pressure occurred at rest and were exacerbated by exertion.”.The incident was reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The doctor’s condition improved after a year, but not entirely..“Symptoms and exercise tolerance improved,” the paper said..“Fluid weight gain, swelling, tachycardia and arterial hypertension resolved and the resting SpO2 increased to 98–100%. Flu-like symptoms and fatigue diminished but did not disappear. RVSP remained elevated.”.The second case was “a previously healthy and active 56-year-old male.”.“Twelve days after the second dose, the patient experienced sudden onset fatigue, flu-like symptoms and dyspnea on exertion. SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing was negative at the time of the onset of these symptoms,” the paper stated..“The stress echocardiogram revealed ventricular ectopy [abnormal heart rhythm] and mild right-sided chamber enlargement. A pulmonary CT angiogram with 3D reconstruction revealed mild enlargement of the PA [pulmonary artery] without evidence of pulmonary emboli.”.According to MyHealthAlberta.ca, emboli are “anything that moves through the blood vessels until it reaches a vessel that is too small to let it pass. When this happens, the blood flow is stopped by the embolus.”.The study calls for more research, something echoed in the doctor’s email..“Dr. Suzuki and I are looking for additional patients. As this is a new diagnosis it’s being completely missed by all but the most observant physicians.”.In an interview with the Western Standard, Sullivan said it’s hard to know how many such cases exist since anything critical of the vaccine “is not a welcomed conclusion.”.“I suspect it's the tip of the iceberg. It was very difficult to get the paper published here. It unfortunately took about two years to get those two cases to publication,” he said..“Just on my medical staff, there were three or four other people with symptoms similar to mine, just not quite as severe. I don't know how much of this is going on, but I suspect it's probably the most common complication with the vaccine.”.Sullivan, whose yoga and circus arts were once highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, said athletes such as him are the “canaries in the coal mine.” He said humans have a large vascular capacity, so if its limits aren’t tested, a loss of function can escape notice..“I noticed this on a lot of my athlete friends. They got a vaccine, and they dipped in their aerobic capacity for a period of months, and they got better. So the question is, what happened? Did they have some damage, and that just resolved? Or did they get permanent damage and the right heart got stronger?”.Sullivan believes the latter happened in his case. He said his initial loss of function was equivalent to losing a lung. He tried to practice medicine, but found being on his feet for two consecutive hours was “utterly exhausting.”.“It went from I could do anything athletically to then overnight, it was hard just to stand, go upstairs. I was trying to warm up on the treadmill and I just collapsed. I just couldn't get enough blood flow through my lungs to pump out the left heart,” he said..“It's been a nightmare. It's turned my life upside down. I cannot [over]state the amount of suffering that I went through. It's like being hung upside down continuously. It was months before I could lie flat and be comfortable.".“You feel like you’re dying because you are.”.Sullivan said the spike protein of the original SARS (SARS-CoV-1) was fatal to animals. This was the reason Suzuki was worried about spike proteins in SARS-CoV-2 and now the vaccine..“Anytime you damage the ACE2 system you'll get cardiac arrhythmias, you get fibrosis, you get clotting, and you get pulmonary hypertension,” Sullivan said..“The harm may be irreversible. We don't know if it's progressive or not. We don't know if it's additive with each exposure to spike protein, but there is reason to believe it may be.”.Sullivan guesses if a wide swath of the population had their hearts tested, elevated pulmonary pressures might be found in 3%. Many of these would not be elevated to the point of the “diagnostic threshold” for pulmonary hypertension, however..“People who aren't exerting themselves won't really notice. So the implication is that this could be very widespread. It can be relatively silent. Traditionally, it's been progressive and fatal.”.Without more awareness, Sullivan believes the problem will go unnoticed, regardless of how pervasive it might be. He said pulmonary hypertension is difficult to diagnose and, until now, an acute onset doesn’t happen without pulmonary emboli being present..“These are the dread complications of drug trials where they sneak up on you and kill people,” he said..“I tell people, hey, it's a novel therapeutic; we should expect novel problems.”
