Summary
| What is known about this topic? COVID-19 vaccines may cause reactive lymphadenopathy on 18F-FDG PET-CT. What question did this study address? What is the incidence and duration of COVID-19 vaccine-related reactive lymphadenopathy on 18F-FDG PET-CT, and is there any difference according to gender, age or vaccine type? What did this study find? Reactive 18F-FDG uptake was seen in axillary lymph nodes of 36% of vaccinated patients and up to 10 weeks post-vaccination. Women and those aged <65 years are more likely be affected. There was no significant difference between the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in causing this finding. None of the reactive lymph nodes were enlarged. What is the implication for practice now? Recognition of this finding by all physicians is important to avoid incorrect upstaging of cancers. Particularly as the vaccination history may not be available to the PET reporter. |