PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Justin G Peacock
AU  - Elisabeth A Banks
AU  - Nathan E McWhorter
TI  - 18F-Fluciclovine Avid Axillary Lymph Nodes After COVID-19 Vaccination on PET/CT for Suspected Recurrence of Prostate Cancer
AID  - 10.2967/jnmt.121.263001
DP  - 2021 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
PG  - jnmt.121.263001
4099  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/12/06/jnmt.121.263001.short
4100  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/12/06/jnmt.121.263001.full
AB  - Abnormal increased FDG avidity of axillary lymph nodes has become a frequent diagnostic dilemma on PET/CT in the current climate of global vaccinations directed against SARS-CoV-2. This is due to the inflammatory response evoked by vaccines and the non-specific nature of F18-Fludeoxyglucose (FDG), which includes increased uptake in both malignant and inflammatory processes. Similarly, F18-Fluciclovine (Axumin), an amino acid analog indicated for the assessment of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer, may also demonstrate non-specific inflammatory uptake. We report a case of 18F-Fluciclovine PET/CT obtained for concern of prostate cancer which demonstrated isolated avid lymph nodes in the left axilla. Screening questionnaire revealed that the patient had received the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine in his left shoulder recently and hence the uptake was determined to be reactive.