Several case studies confirmed increased FDG-uptake on PET scans corresponding to typical pulmonary lesions on chest CT scans in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Furthermore, increased FDG-uptake most likely caused by inflammatory changes in SARS-CoV-2 infection were described in other organs, such as mediastinal lymph nodes, bone marrow, and the spleen. As COVID-19 frequently presents with anosmia and on rare occasions, symptoms of encephalitis, metabolic changes in the central nervous system (CNS) were also investigated by FDG-PET/CT, showing hypometabolism in the olfactory gyrus and the limbic system, while hypermetabolism was observed in the basal ganglia and the cerebellar vermis. Late changes in pulmonary CT-morphology, most commonly interstitial thickening and crazy paving are observed, suggesting permanent lung damage after SARS-CoV-2 infection in certain cases. Evaluation of metabolic activity of acute and late inflammatory changes could potentially provide clinical benefit as dedicated medication could be started to prevent further organ damage due to prolonged inflammation.
We aim to evaluate metabolic alterations in the lung parenchyma and potential extrapulmonary locations related to to COVID-19 with FDG-PET/CT.
