COVID-19 vaccination may cause FDG uptake beyond axillary area

Vincent Fleury; Bruno Maucherat; Daniela Rusu; Frédéric Dumont; Caroline Rousseau

doi:10.1186/s41824-021-00105-2

COVID-19 vaccination may cause FDG uptake beyond axillary area

Eur J Hybrid Imaging. 2021;5(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s41824-021-00105-2. Epub 2021 Jun 1.

Authors

Vincent Fleury¹, Bruno Maucherat¹, Daniela Rusu¹, Frédéric Dumont², Caroline Rousseau^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine, ICO Gauducheau Cancer Center, Boulevard Monod, 44805 Saint-Herblain Cedex,, France.
² Department of Surgical Oncology, ICO Gauducheau Cancer Center, Saint-Herblain, France.
³ CNRS, Inserm, CRCINA, Nantes, France.
⁴ Nantes University, Nantes, France.

Abstract

Background: The vaccination immune response may induce false-positive ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT uptake.

Case presentation: An extended supraclavicular lymph nodal activation after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination revealed on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT mimics a Virchow nodule in a patient with medical history of well-differentiated appendicular adenocarcinoma.

Conclusion: This case highlights a nodal activation beyond axillary area and the importance of documenting vaccination history at the time of scanning to avoid false-positive results.

Keywords: COVID-19; FDG PET/CT; Vaccine.

Publication types

Case Reports