Description
A 38‐year‐old woman with advanced stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma presented for her interim 18F‐ fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) scan after completing two cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (ABVD). Her interim PET after two cycles of ABVD showed response in the previously identified hypermetabolic lymphadenopathy (PET on presentation shown in panel A), but interval development of FDG avidity anterior to the right proximal humerus and axilla (panel B), prompting the consideration to dose‐intensify her therapy. However, the patient clarified that she had received the COVID‐19 vaccine (Pfizer) in her right arm seven days prior to the PET scan. Repeat PET two weeks later showed improvement in the right axillary hypermetabolic lymph nodes (panel C), favouring vaccine‐related reactive hypermetabolism. Recognizing the ability of vaccines to induce PET‐avid hypermetabolic lymphadenopathy is crucial to avoid misinterpreting vaccine‐related responses with interim PET positivity that would have altered treatment.
FIGURE 1.
Pre‐treatment (panel A), interim (panel B) and repeat two‐weeks after vaccination (panel C) positron emission tomography scans
Suleman A, Bilbily A, Cheung M, Chodirker L. Hypermetabolic lymphadenopathy on positron emission tomography scan following COVID‐19 vaccination: A mimicker of disease progression in Hodgkin lymphoma. eJHaem. 2021;2:678–679. 10.1002/jha2.268