A woman’s breasts increased in size after receiving the Covid vaccine in the first case of its kind.
The 19-year-old Canadian moved from the B cup to the triple G cup six months after receiving the two-shot course.
She received her first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine in September 2022 and her breasts began to tingle and grow slightly.
Both effects worsened after he received his second dose of the vaccine about three weeks later.
She finally went to the doctor at six months when her breasts grew to such an extreme size. For comparison, the average American woman’s cup size is DD.
Doctors who treated the woman suggested that her Covid vaccine could have triggered pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH), an overgrowth of cells that usually causes benign breast lumps and has only been seen in around 200 patients.
This is the first case linking PASH to a vaccine, although experts warned it cannot be proven to be the culprit.
It’s unclear exactly how the vaccine may have triggered the growth, but some case studies have suggested that Covid vaccines may trigger an immune response that leads to temporary swelling of lymph nodes, making breasts appear larger.
Covid vaccines have not been shown to cause breast changes, although they may cause temporary swelling of the lymph nodes (file image)
The experts, from the University of Toronto, wrote in a medical journal last month: “This case is the first to demonstrate a temporal association between PASH-associated gigantomastia and a vaccine.”
Experts have also noted that adverse reactions to Covid vaccines are extremely rare and that the benefits of receiving the vaccine outweigh the potential complications.
Serious side effects affect approximately one in every 200,000 people, according to official US data.
The CDC data also shows that only two serious adverse effects after Covid vaccination have been well established: anaphylaxis and myocarditis or pericarditis, two types of heart damage.
The woman in the case study did not have any underlying illness. While her breasts appeared swollen and sagging, there were no lumps.
An ultrasound and CT scan showed slightly swollen lymph nodes around the woman’s armpits and dense blood vessels, which they believe is due to enlarged breast tissue.
PASH is a benign breast condition that has been found in fewer than 200 people worldwide since it was first described in 1986.
It typically causes noncancerous lesions, lumps in the breast made up of cells called myofibroblasts.
The anonymous woman is shown above after receiving breast reduction surgery. You are considering further procedures to return to your normal cup size.
However, there are only 20 known cases of PASH causing extreme breast growth and none have been previously associated with vaccines.
It is unclear how the vaccine may have triggered the woman’s breast growth.
In 2021, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that Covid vaccines could cause swollen lymph nodes, leading to abnormal results on mammograms and breast ultrasounds.
However, they warned that this “is a normal reaction to the Covid vaccine and there is nothing to worry about.”
Toronto experts said more research is needed into the possible link between gigantomastia and Covid vaccines.
The woman underwent a breast reduction 11 months after her initial Covid vaccine, which reduced her to a double D cup. Doctors removed 8 pounds of tissue during the surgery.
Although she has not experienced any additional growth, her breasts are now asymmetrical.
She is considering further surgery to correct this and return her breasts to their normal size.