Researchers warn About Post COVID 19 Vaccine Impact on Imaging

To help the medical community address this concern in the absence of studies and evidence-based guidelines, Dr Anton Becker, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and colleagues published a set of recommendations for considering COVID-19 vaccine effects on imaging. Following are the summary of recommendations:

• “Some routine imaging examinations, such as those for screening, should be scheduled before or at least 6 weeks after the final vaccination dose to allow for any reactive adenopathy to resolve.
• There should be no delay of other clinically indicated imaging (e.g., for acute symptoms, short-interval treatment monitoring, urgent treatment planning or complications) due to prior vaccination.
• The vaccine should be administered on the side contralateral to the primary or suspected cancer, and both doses should be administered in the same arm.
• Vaccination Information (date(s) administered, injection site(s), laterality, and type of vaccine) should be included in every pre-imaging patient questionnaire, and this information should be made readily available to interpreting radiologists.
• Clear and effective communication between patients, radiologists, referring physician teams and the general public should be considered of the highest priority when managing adenopathy in the setting of COVID-19 vaccination.”(3)

REFERENCES:

1. Mortazavi, Shabnam. “Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Vaccination Associated Axillary Adenopathy: Imaging Findings and Follow-Up Recommendations in 23 Women”. American Journal of Roentgenology,10.2214/AJR.21.25651.
2. Özütemiz, Can, Krystosek, et al. “Lymphadenopathy in COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients: Diagnostic Dilemma in Oncology Patients”. Radiology; 2021;210275. doi:10.1148/radiol.2021210275.
3. Becker, Anton S et al. “Multidisciplinary Recommendations Regarding Post-Vaccine Adenopathy and Radiologic Imaging: Radiology Scientific Expert Panel”. Radiology; 2021;210436. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2021210436.