A 19-year-old woman in Canada experienced an extraordinary and rare side effect following her Pfizer Covid vaccination, where her breast size increased from a B cup to a triple G cup within six months.
This unprecedented case has left medical experts intrigued and calling for further research.
The young woman, who received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in September 2022, noticed tingling sensations and slight growth in her breasts soon after.
These symptoms intensified following her second dose, administered three weeks later.
By six months, her breasts had ballooned to a size far exceeding the average American woman’s cup size of DD, prompting her to seek medical attention.
Doctors diagnosed her with pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia a rare condition characterized by the benign overgrowth of breast tissue. Although PASH typically causes non-cancerous lumps in the breast and has been documented in fewer than 200 cases worldwide since 1986, her case stands out.
This is the first known instance of PASH being associated with a vaccine, as highlighted by experts from the University of Toronto in a recent medical journal publication.
“This case is the first to demonstrate a temporal association between PASH-associated gigantomastia and a vaccine,” the researchers stated.
While they emphasized the need for further investigation, they caution that the vaccine’s role as a trigger cannot be definitively proven.
The exact mechanism behind the potential link remains unclear.
Previous studies, including research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania in 2021, have noted that Covid vaccines can cause swollen lymph nodes.
This temporary immune response can sometimes lead to abnormal findings in mammograms or breast ultrasounds. However, these occurrences are typically harmless and resolve on their own.
The young woman had no underlying health conditions, and imaging tests revealed swollen lymph nodes near her armpits and dense blood vessels attributed to the enlarged breast tissue.
Despite the significant growth, her breasts showed no masses, a typical symptom of PASH.
After living with the condition for nearly a year, she underwent breast reduction surgery, which reduced her size to a double D cup.
Surgeons removed a staggering 8 pounds of tissue during the procedure. Although she has experienced no further growth since the surgery, her breasts are now asymmetrical, and she is considering additional operations to restore her original size.
Experts note that while adverse reactions to Covid vaccines are exceedingly rare—affecting approximately one in 200,000 individuals—the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.
According to the CDC, the two most well-established serious side effects of Covid vaccines are anaphylaxis and myocarditis or pericarditis, both forms of heart inflammation.
The researchers stress the importance of continued study into potential links between gigantomastia and vaccinations to better understand this extraordinary case.
