Table 1.
Case reports and small case series on PET findings in patients with recent vaccination against COVID-19 (source: PubMed/MEDLINE; last search date: 22 April 2021)
| First author | Year | Country | Age/sex of patients | Vaccine manufacturer | Inoculation site | Time from vaccine to PET scan | PET indication | PET tomograph | PET tracer | PET findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed [2] | 2021 | UK/Kuwait | 86/F | Pfizer | Left deltoid muscle | 6 days** | Melanoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and in normal-sized left subpectoral LN |
| Avner [3] | 2021 | Israel | 57/F | Pfizer | Left arm | 6 days** | Melanoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left proximal arm, enlarged left axillary and subpectoral LN |
| Bauckneht [4] | 2021 | Italy | 44/M | Pfizer | Left arm | 1 day** | Target for LN biopsy | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left proximal arm and in enlarged left axillary LN |
| Brown [5] | 2021 | UK | 67/F | NR | Left arm | 2 weeks | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in normal-sized left axillary and subpectoral LN |
| 48/F | NR | Right arm | 3 weeks | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in right proximal arm and in normal-sized right axillary LN | |||
| 83/F | NR | Left arm | 2 weeks | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in normal-sized left axillary and subpectoral LN | |||
| 66/F | NR | Left arm | < 3 weeks | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in a normal-sized left subpectoral LN | |||
| Doss [6] | 2021 | USA | 70/F | Pfizer | Left arm | 2 days** | Lymphoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and in normal-sized left axillary LN |
| Eifer [7] | 2021 | Israel | 72/F | Pfizer | Right deltoid muscle | 10 days | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in right deltoid muscle and in normal-sized right axillary LN |
| Finnegan [8] | 2021 | Ireland | 50/M | Pfizer | Left arm | 10 days** | NR (staging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary LN |
| Hanneman [9] | 2021 | Canada | 56/F | Pfizer | Left deltoid muscle | 1 day** | Cardiac diseases (research) | PET/MRI | 18F-FDG | Uptake in enlarged left axillary LN |
| Johnson [10] | 2021 | USA | NR/F | Moderna | Left deltoid muscle | 10 days* | Parotid cancer (staging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary and supraclavicular LN |
| NR/F | NR | Left deltoid muscle | 2 weeks* | Oropharyngeal cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary and supraclavicular LN | |||
| Lu [11] | 2021 | USA | 64/F | Pfizer | Both arms | 6 weeks* and 3 weeks** | Carcinoid (restaging) | PET/CT | 68Ga-DOTATATE | Uptake in bilateral axillary and subpectoral LN |
| McIntosh [12] | 2021 | USA | 40/F | Moderna | Left deltoid muscle | 3 days | Breast cancer (staging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary, supraclavicular and lower cervical LN |
| 72/F | Pfizer | Right deltoid muscle | 11 days* | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in normal-sized right axillary LN | |||
| 72/F | NR | NR | 4 days** | Lung nodule (characterization) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in right axillary LN | |||
| 40/F | Moderna | NR | 3 days | NR | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in enlarged left axillary LN | |||
| 59/M | NR | NR | 14 days | Lung cancer (staging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in enlarged left axillary, supraclavicular and lower cervical LN | |||
| 68/F | Moderna | Left deltoid muscle | 9 days | Cervical cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary LN | |||
| Moghimi [13] | 2021 | Canada | 71/M | NR | Left deltoid muscle | 6 days | Melanoma (staging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and left axillary and lower cervical LN |
| Nawwar [14] | 2021 | UK/Egypt | 76/F | AstraZeneca | Left arm | 14 days | Myeloma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and left axillary LN |
| Nawwar [15] | 2021 | UK/Egypt | 70/M | AstraZeneca | Left arm | 7 days | Lung cancer (staging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary LN |
| Nawwar [16] | 2021 | UK/Egypt | 75/M | AstraZeneca | Left arm | 3 days | Prostate cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-choline | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and left axillary LN |
| Özütemiz [17] | 2021 | Turkey | 32/F | Pfizer | Left arm | 6 days** | Melanoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left arm and enlarged left axillary LN |
| 46/F | Pfizer | Left deltoid muscle | 7 days** | Breast cancer (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and enlarged left axillary and supraclavicular LN | |||
| Smith [18] | 2021 | USA | 40/F | Pfizer | Left arm | 1 day** | Osteosarcoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and in normal-sized left axillary and supraclavicular LN |
| Steinberg [19] | 2021 | USA | 65/F | Moderna | Right deltoid muscle | 5 days* | Lung nodules (characterization) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in right deltoid muscle, right axillary LN and diffuse splenic uptake |
| Ulaner [20] | 2021 | USA | 68/M | Moderna | Left arm | 3 weeks* | Melanoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left axillary LN |
| Xu [21] | 2021 | USA | 72/M | Pfizer | Left arm | 2 days | Lymphoma (restaging) | PET/CT | 18F-FDG | Uptake in left deltoid muscle and left axillary LN |
CT computed tomography, F female, 18F-FDG 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose, LN lymph nodes, M male, MRI magnetic resonance imaging, NR not reporte, PET positron emission tomography
* After the first dose of vaccine
** After the second dose of vaccine