Recently, several articles reported incidental findings at 2-[ 18 F]FDG PET/CT in patients who have received COVID-19 vaccinations, including hypermetabolic axillary lymph nodes (HALNs) ipsilateral to the COVID-19 vaccine injection site which may cause diagnostic dilemmas. The aim of our work was to calculate the prevalence of this finding. A comprehensive computer literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane library databases was performed to identify recently published articles that investigated the prevalence of HALNs detected by 2-[ 18 F]FDG PET/CT after COVID-19 vaccination. Pooled prevalence of this finding was calculated through a meta-analytic approach. Nine recently published articles including 2354 patients undergoing 2-[ 18 F]FDG PET/CT after recent COVID-19 vaccination have been included in the systematic review. Overall, HALNs ipsilateral to the vaccine injection site were frequent findings mainly due to vaccine-related immune response in most of the cases. The pooled prevalence of HALNs after COVID-19 vaccination was 37% (95% confidence interval: 27–47%) but with significant heterogeneity among the included studies. Physicians must be aware and recognize the significant frequency of HALNs at 2-[ 18 F]FDG PET/CT related to immune response to vaccine injection. Larger studies are needed to confirm the findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Meta-analysis, Inflammation, Vaccine, systematic review, pet, FDG, lymph nodes, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19 vaccine, immune response, diagnostic, database, heterogeneity, Prevalence, COVID-19 vaccination, Patient, Frequency, Lymph node, PET/CT, injection, article, physician, COVID-19 vaccinations, approach, identify, reported, investigated, was performed, calculated, recognize, the vaccine, calculate, ipsilateral, vaccine injection, 【제목키워드】 review, PET/CT, node, lymph, Significance,